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Birkeland current: Difference between revisions
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[[File:600px-Schematic-of-combined-FACs-and-ionospheric-current-systems.png|thumb|Schematic of the Birkeland or Field-Aligned Currents and the ionospheric current systems they connect to] | [[File:600px-Schematic-of-combined-FACs-and-ionospheric-current-systems.png|thumb|Schematic of the Birkeland or Field-Aligned Currents and the ionospheric current systems they connect to]] | ||
A [[Birkeland current]] is a set of currents that flow along geomagnetic field lines connecting the Earth’s [[Magnetosphere]] to the Earth's high latitude ionosphere. In the Earth’s magnetosphere, the currents are driven by the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field and by bulk motions of plasma through the magnetosphere (convection indirectly driven by the interplanetary environment). The strength of the Birkeland currents changes with activity in the magnetosphere (e.g. during substorms). | A [[Birkeland current]] is a set of currents that flow along geomagnetic field lines connecting the Earth’s [[Magnetosphere]] to the Earth's high latitude ionosphere. In the Earth’s magnetosphere, the currents are driven by the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field and by bulk motions of plasma through the magnetosphere (convection indirectly driven by the interplanetary environment). The strength of the Birkeland currents changes with activity in the magnetosphere (e.g. during substorms). | ||