Abstract
The intimate connection between geomagnetic storms and the aurora was appreciated by many early scientists including Edmund Halley and Anders Celsius, but the first serious study of this phenomena was made by Kristian Birkeland who, during his polar expeditions of 1902–1903, determined that large-scale ionospheric current were associated with the aurora. Birkeland was also the first to suggest that these currents originated far from the Earth and that they flowed into and away from the polar atmosphere along the geomagnetic field lines. The existence of such field-aligned orBirkeland currents was widely disputed because it was not possible to unambiguously identify current systems that are field-aligned (Alfvén, 1939, 1940) and those which are completely contained in the ionosphere (Vestine and Chapman, 1938) only from a study of surface magnetic field measurements. During the last decade, the presence of Birkeland currents has been absolutely confirmed with particle and magnetic field observations acquired from a variety of rocket and satellite instruments. The vector magnetometer on the low-altitude (∼800 km) polar orbiting TRIAD satellite has been used to determine for the first time the flow direction, spatial distribution, and intensities of Birkeland currents in the north and south auroral regions. These observations support the mechanism originally proposed by Alfvén (1939, 1940)-later expanded by Shieldet al. (1969)-to drive Birkeland currents in the auroral regions, and they demonstrate the important role that these intense currents (ranging between 106 and 107 amperes) play in the coupling of energy between the magnetosphere and the lower ionosphere and atmosphere.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akasofu, S.-I.: 1969,Nature 221, 1020.
Akasofu, S.-I. and Kamide, Y.: 1976,Planet. Space Sci. 24, 223.
Alfvén, H.: 1939,Kungl. Sv. Vet-Akademiens Handl. III, 18 (3).
Alfvén, H.: 1940,Kungl. Sv. Vet-Akademiens Handl. III, 18 (9).
Anderson, H. R. and Vondrak, R. R.: 1975,Rev. Geophys. Space Phys. 13, 243.
Armstrong, J. C.: 1974, in B. M. McCormac (ed.)Magnetospheric Physics, D. Reidel Publ. Co., Dordrecht, Holland, p. 155.
Armstrong, J. C., Akasofu, S.-I. and Rostoker, G.: 1975,J. Geophys. Res. 80, 575.
Armstrong, J. C. and Zmuda, A. J.: 1973,J. Geophys. Res. 78, 6802.
Arnoldy, R. L.: 1974,Rev. Geophys. Space Phys. 12, 217.
Birkeland, K.: 1908,The Norwegian Polaris Expedition 1902–1903, Vol. 1, Sect. 1, Aschehoug, Oslo.
Boström, R.: 1964,J. Geophys. Res. 69, 4983.
Boström, R.: 1974, in B. M. McCormac (ed.),Magnetospheric Physics, D. Reidel Publ. Co., Dordrech, Holland, p. 45.
Chapman, S.: 1935,Terr. Magn. Atmos. Elec. 40, 349.
Chapman, S. and Bartels, J.: 1940,Geomagnetism, Vols. 1 and 2. Oxford University Press.
Coleman, P. J. and McPherron, R. L.: 1970, in B. M. McCormac (ed.),Particles and Fields in the Magnetosphere, D. Reidel Publ. Co., Dordrecht, Holland.
Cummings, W. D. and Dessler, A. J.: 1967,J. Geophys. Res. 72, 1007.
D'Angelo, N.: 1976, The University of Iowa, Dept of Physics Rept No. 76-10.
Fairfield, D. H.: 1973,J. Geophys. Res. 78, 1553.
Fairfield, D. H. and Mead, G. D.: 1975,J. Geophys. Res. 80, 535.
Feldstein, Y. I.: 1966,Planet. Space Sci. 14, 121.
Heelis, R. A., Hanson, W. B. and Burch, J. L.: 1976,J. Geophys. Res. 81, 3803.
Heppner, J. P.: 1972,J. Geophys. Res. 77, 4877.
Iijima, T.: 1974,Rept. Ionos. Space Res. Japan 28, 173.
Iijima, T., Fujii, R., Potemra, T. A., Saflekos, N. A.: 1978, JHU/APL Preprint 78-01 (submitted toJ. Geophys. Res.).
Iijima, T. and Potemra, T. A.: 1976a,J. Geophys. Res. 81, 2165.
Iijima, T. and Potemra, T. A.: 1976b,J. Geophys. Res. 81, 5971.
Iijima, T. and Potemra, T. A.: 1978,J. Geophys. Res. 83, 599.
Kamide, Y. and Akasofu, S.-I.: 1976,J. Geophys. Res. 81, 3999.
Kamide, Y., Kroehl, H. W., Rostoker, G., Akasofu, S.-I. and Potemra, T. A.: 1976,EOS (abstract only)57, 993.
King, J. H.: 1977, Interplanetary Medium Data Book, NASA National Space Sciences Data Center, Greenbelt, Maryland.
Kroehl, H. W., Kamide, Y., Rostoker, G., Akasofu, S.-I. and Potemra, T. A.: 1976,EOS (abstract only)57, 993.
Lepping, R. P.: 1977, Private communication.
McDiarmid, I. B., Burrows, J. R. and Wilson, Margaret D.: 1978, submitted toJ. Geophys. Res.
Mozer, F. S., Gonzalez, W. D., Bogott, F., Kelley, M. C. and Schutz, S.: 1974,J. Geophys. Res. 79, 56.
Nagata, T., Kokubun, S. and Iijima, T.: 1966,Sci. Rept Japan Antarctic Res. Exped., Ser. A,3 1.
Potemra, T. A.: 1977a,Smithsonian 7, 64.
Potemra, T. A.: 1977b, in B. Grandal and J. A. Holtet (eds)Dynamical and Chemical Coupling, D. Reidel Publ. Co., Dordrech, Holland, p. 337.
Potemra, T. A., Iijima, T. and Favin, S.: 1975,EOS, Trans. Am. Geophys. Union 56, 617.
Saflekos, N. A., Potemra, T. A., Kintner, P. M., Jr and Green, J. L.: 1978, JHU/APL Preprint 78-02 (submitted toJ. Geophys. Res.).
Sharp, R. D. and Johnson, R. G.: 1968,J. Geophys. Res. 73, 969.
Shield, M. A., Freeman, J. W. and Dessler, A. J.: 1969,J. Geophys. Res. 74, 247.
Stern, D. P.: 1975, NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center Report, X-602-75-17, June, 1975.
Störmer, C.: 1904,Vid. Selsk, Math. Kl.
Störmer, C.: 1955,The Polar Aurora, Oxford University Press.
Sugiura, M.: 1975,J. Geophys. Res. 80, 2057.
Sugiura, M. and Poros, D.: 1973,Planet. Space Sci. 21, 1763.
Sugiura, M. and Potemra, T. A.: 1976,J. Geophys. Res. 81, 2155.
Theile, B. and Praetorius, H. M.: 1973,Planet. Space Sci. 21, 179.
Tsunoda, R. T., Presnell, R. I. and Potemra, T. A.: 1976,J. Geophys. Res. 81, 3791.
Vasyliunas, V. M.: 1968,J. Geophys. Res. 73, 5805.
Vasyliunas, V. M.: 1972, in Dyer (ed.)Solar Terrestrial Physics, Part III, D. Reidel Publ. Co., Dordrecht, Holland.
Vestine, E. H., and Chapman, S.: 1938,Terr. Magn. Atmos. Elec. 43, 351.
Wilhjelm, J., Friis-Christensen, E. and Potemra, T. A.: 1978, submitted toJ. Geophys. Res.
Zmuda, A. J. and Armstrong, J. C.: 1974a,J. Geophys. Res. 79, 2501.
Zmuda, A. J. and Armstrong, J. C.: 1974b,J. Geophys. Res. 79, 4611.
Zmuda, A. J. Heuring, F. T. and Martin, J. H.: 1967,J. Geophys. Res. 72, 1115.
Zmuda, A. J., Martin, J. H. and Heuring, F. T.: 1966J. Geophys. Res. 71, 5033.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Paper dedicated to Professor Hannes Alfvén on the occasion of his 70th birthday, 30 May, 1978.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Potemra, T.A. Observation of Birkeland currents with the TRIAD satellite. Astrophys Space Sci 58, 207–226 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00645387
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00645387