Articles | Volume 41, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-41-13-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-41-13-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Drivers of rapid geomagnetic variations at high latitudes
Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland
Ari Viljanen
Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland
Andrew P. Dimmock
Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Uppsala, Sweden
Mirjam Kellinsalmi
Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland
Audrey Schillings
Department of Physics, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
James M. Weygand
Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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Abiyot Bires Workayehu, Minna Palmroth, Maxime Grandin, Liisa Juusola, Markku Alho, Ivan Zaitsev, Venla Koikkalainen, Konstantinos Horaites, Yann Pfau-Kempf, Urs Ganse, Markus Battarbee, and Jonas Suni
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We investigate the ionospheric signatures of BBFs in the magnetotail utilising a global 6D hybrid-Vlasov simulation coupled with an ionospheric model. We analyse changes in the magnitudes of ionospheric observables and use them as the ionospheric manifestations of bursty bulk flows. Our results reveal that reconnection-driven BBF induce vortices that generate FACs, which map to the ionosphere with distinct east-west alignment and exhibit a characteristic westward drift.
Venla Koikkalainen, Maxime Grandin, Emilia Kilpua, Abiyot Workayehu, Ivan Zaitsev, Liisa Juusola, Shi Tao, Markku Alho, Lauri Pänkäläinen, Giulia Cozzani, Konstantinos Horaites, Jonas Suni, Yann Pfau-Kempf, Urs Ganse, and Minna Palmroth
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We use a numerical simulation to study phenomena that occur between the Earth’s dipolar magnetic field and the nightside of near-Earth space. We observe the formation of large-scale vortex flows with scales of several Earth radii. On the ionospheric grid of the simulation we find that the field-aligned currents formed in the simulation reflect the vortex flow in the transition region. The main finding is that the vortex flow is a result of a combination of flow dynamics and a plasma instability.
Liisa Juusola, Ilkka Virtanen, Spencer Mark Hatch, Heikki Vanhamäki, Maxime Grandin, Noora Partamies, Urs Ganse, Ilja Honkonen, Abiyot Workayehu, Antti Kero, and Minna Palmroth
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Key properties of the ionospheric electrodynamics are electric fields, currents, and conductances. They provide a window to the vast and distant near-Earth space, cause Joule heating that affect satellite orbits, and drive geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) in technological conductor networks. We have developed a new method for solving the key properties of ionospheric electrodynamics from ground-based magnetic field observations.
Liisa Juusola, Heikki Vanhamäki, Elena Marshalko, Mikhail Kruglyakov, and Ari Viljanen
Ann. Geophys., 43, 271–301, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-43-271-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-43-271-2025, 2025
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Interaction between the magnetic field of the rapidly varying electric currents in space and the conducting ground produces an electric field at the Earth's surface. This geoelectric field drives geomagnetically induced currents in technological conductor networks, which can affect the performance of critical ground infrastructure such as electric power transmission grids. We have developed a new method suitable for monitoring the geoelectric field based on ground magnetic field observations.
Urs Ganse, Yann Pfau-Kempf, Hongyang Zhou, Liisa Juusola, Abiyot Workayehu, Fasil Kebede, Konstantinos Papadakis, Maxime Grandin, Markku Alho, Markus Battarbee, Maxime Dubart, Leo Kotipalo, Arnaud Lalagüe, Jonas Suni, Konstantinos Horaites, and Minna Palmroth
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 511–527, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-511-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-511-2025, 2025
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Vlasiator is a kinetic space plasma model that simulates the behavior of plasma, solar wind and magnetic fields in near-Earth space. So far, these simulations have been run without any interaction with the ionosphere, the uppermost layer of Earth's atmosphere. In this paper, we present the new methods that add an ionospheric electrodynamics model to Vlasiator, coupling it with the existing methods and presenting new simulation results of how space plasma and Earth's ionosphere interact.
Noora Partamies, Bas Dol, Vincent Teissier, Liisa Juusola, Mikko Syrjäsuo, and Hjalmar Mulders
Ann. Geophys., 42, 103–115, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-42-103-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-42-103-2024, 2024
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Auroral imaging produces large amounts of image data that can no longer be analyzed by visual inspection. Thus, every step towards automatic analysis tools is crucial. Previously supervised learning methods have been used in auroral physics, with a human expert providing ground truth. However, this ground truth is debatable. We present an unsupervised learning method, which shows promising results in detecting auroral breakups in the all-sky image data.
Liisa Juusola, Ari Viljanen, Noora Partamies, Heikki Vanhamäki, Mirjam Kellinsalmi, and Simon Walker
Ann. Geophys., 41, 483–510, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-41-483-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-41-483-2023, 2023
Short summary
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At times when auroras erupt on the sky, the magnetic field surrounding the Earth undergoes rapid changes. On the ground, these changes can induce harmful electric currents in technological conductor networks, such as powerlines. We have used magnetic field observations from northern Europe during 28 such events and found consistent behavior that can help to understand, and thus predict, the processes that drive auroras and geomagnetically induced currents.
Mirjam Kellinsalmi, Ari Viljanen, Liisa Juusola, and Sebastian Käki
Ann. Geophys., 40, 545–562, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-40-545-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-40-545-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Eruptions from the Sun can pose a hazard to Earth's power grids via, e.g., geomagnetically induced currents (GICs). We study magnetic measurements from Fennoscandia to find ways to understand and forecast GIC. We find that the direction of the time derivative of the magnetic field has a short
reset time, about 2 min. We conclude that this result gives insight on the current systems high in Earth’s atmosphere, which are the main driver behind the time derivative’s behavior and GIC formation.
Sebastian Käki, Ari Viljanen, Liisa Juusola, and Kirsti Kauristie
Ann. Geophys., 40, 107–119, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-40-107-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-40-107-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
During auroral substorms, the ionospheric electric currents change rapidly, and a large amount of energy is dissipated. We combine ionospheric current data derived from the Swarm satellite mission with the substorm database from the SuperMAG ground magnetometer network. We obtain statistics of the strength and location of the currents relative to the substorm onset. Our results show that low-earth orbit satellites give a coherent picture of the main features in the substorm current system.
Liisa Juusola, Heikki Vanhamäki, Ari Viljanen, and Maxim Smirnov
Ann. Geophys., 38, 983–998, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-38-983-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-38-983-2020, 2020
Short summary
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Rapid variations of the magnetic field measured on the ground can be used to estimate space weather risks to power grids, but forecasting the variations remains a challenge. We show that part of this problem stems from the fact that, in addition to electric currents in space, the magnetic field variations are strongly affected by underground electric currents. We suggest that separating the measured field into its space and underground parts could improve our understanding of space weather.
Abiyot Bires Workayehu, Minna Palmroth, Maxime Grandin, Liisa Juusola, Markku Alho, Ivan Zaitsev, Venla Koikkalainen, Konstantinos Horaites, Yann Pfau-Kempf, Urs Ganse, Markus Battarbee, and Jonas Suni
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2282, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2282, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We investigate the ionospheric signatures of BBFs in the magnetotail utilising a global 6D hybrid-Vlasov simulation coupled with an ionospheric model. We analyse changes in the magnitudes of ionospheric observables and use them as the ionospheric manifestations of bursty bulk flows. Our results reveal that reconnection-driven BBF induce vortices that generate FACs, which map to the ionosphere with distinct east-west alignment and exhibit a characteristic westward drift.
Venla Koikkalainen, Maxime Grandin, Emilia Kilpua, Abiyot Workayehu, Ivan Zaitsev, Liisa Juusola, Shi Tao, Markku Alho, Lauri Pänkäläinen, Giulia Cozzani, Konstantinos Horaites, Jonas Suni, Yann Pfau-Kempf, Urs Ganse, and Minna Palmroth
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2265, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2265, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We use a numerical simulation to study phenomena that occur between the Earth’s dipolar magnetic field and the nightside of near-Earth space. We observe the formation of large-scale vortex flows with scales of several Earth radii. On the ionospheric grid of the simulation we find that the field-aligned currents formed in the simulation reflect the vortex flow in the transition region. The main finding is that the vortex flow is a result of a combination of flow dynamics and a plasma instability.
Liisa Juusola, Ilkka Virtanen, Spencer Mark Hatch, Heikki Vanhamäki, Maxime Grandin, Noora Partamies, Urs Ganse, Ilja Honkonen, Abiyot Workayehu, Antti Kero, and Minna Palmroth
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2394, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2394, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Key properties of the ionospheric electrodynamics are electric fields, currents, and conductances. They provide a window to the vast and distant near-Earth space, cause Joule heating that affect satellite orbits, and drive geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) in technological conductor networks. We have developed a new method for solving the key properties of ionospheric electrodynamics from ground-based magnetic field observations.
Liisa Juusola, Heikki Vanhamäki, Elena Marshalko, Mikhail Kruglyakov, and Ari Viljanen
Ann. Geophys., 43, 271–301, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-43-271-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-43-271-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Interaction between the magnetic field of the rapidly varying electric currents in space and the conducting ground produces an electric field at the Earth's surface. This geoelectric field drives geomagnetically induced currents in technological conductor networks, which can affect the performance of critical ground infrastructure such as electric power transmission grids. We have developed a new method suitable for monitoring the geoelectric field based on ground magnetic field observations.
Urs Ganse, Yann Pfau-Kempf, Hongyang Zhou, Liisa Juusola, Abiyot Workayehu, Fasil Kebede, Konstantinos Papadakis, Maxime Grandin, Markku Alho, Markus Battarbee, Maxime Dubart, Leo Kotipalo, Arnaud Lalagüe, Jonas Suni, Konstantinos Horaites, and Minna Palmroth
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 511–527, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-511-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-511-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Vlasiator is a kinetic space plasma model that simulates the behavior of plasma, solar wind and magnetic fields in near-Earth space. So far, these simulations have been run without any interaction with the ionosphere, the uppermost layer of Earth's atmosphere. In this paper, we present the new methods that add an ionospheric electrodynamics model to Vlasiator, coupling it with the existing methods and presenting new simulation results of how space plasma and Earth's ionosphere interact.
Paul Prikryl, David R. Themens, Jaroslav Chum, Shibaji Chakraborty, Robert G. Gillies, and James M. Weygand
Ann. Geophys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-2024-6, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-2024-6, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for ANGEO
Short summary
Short summary
Travelling ionospheric disturbances are plasma density fluctuations usually driven by atmospheric gravity waves in the neutral atmosphere. The aim of this study is to attribute multi-instrument observations of travelling ionospheric disturbances to gravity waves generated in the upper atmosphere at high latitudes or gravity waves generated by tropospheric weather systems at mid latitudes.
Noora Partamies, Bas Dol, Vincent Teissier, Liisa Juusola, Mikko Syrjäsuo, and Hjalmar Mulders
Ann. Geophys., 42, 103–115, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-42-103-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-42-103-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Auroral imaging produces large amounts of image data that can no longer be analyzed by visual inspection. Thus, every step towards automatic analysis tools is crucial. Previously supervised learning methods have been used in auroral physics, with a human expert providing ground truth. However, this ground truth is debatable. We present an unsupervised learning method, which shows promising results in detecting auroral breakups in the all-sky image data.
Liisa Juusola, Ari Viljanen, Noora Partamies, Heikki Vanhamäki, Mirjam Kellinsalmi, and Simon Walker
Ann. Geophys., 41, 483–510, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-41-483-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-41-483-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
At times when auroras erupt on the sky, the magnetic field surrounding the Earth undergoes rapid changes. On the ground, these changes can induce harmful electric currents in technological conductor networks, such as powerlines. We have used magnetic field observations from northern Europe during 28 such events and found consistent behavior that can help to understand, and thus predict, the processes that drive auroras and geomagnetically induced currents.
Paul Prikryl, Robert G. Gillies, David R. Themens, James M. Weygand, Evan G. Thomas, and Shibaji Chakraborty
Ann. Geophys., 40, 619–639, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-40-619-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-40-619-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The solar wind interaction with Earth’s magnetic field deposits energy into the upper portion of the atmosphere at high latitudes. The coupling process that modulates the ionospheric convection and intensity of ionospheric currents leads to formation of densely ionized patches convecting across the polar cap. The ionospheric currents launch traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) propagating equatorward. The polar cap patches and TIDs are then observed by networks of radars and GPS receivers.
Mirjam Kellinsalmi, Ari Viljanen, Liisa Juusola, and Sebastian Käki
Ann. Geophys., 40, 545–562, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-40-545-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-40-545-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Eruptions from the Sun can pose a hazard to Earth's power grids via, e.g., geomagnetically induced currents (GICs). We study magnetic measurements from Fennoscandia to find ways to understand and forecast GIC. We find that the direction of the time derivative of the magnetic field has a short
reset time, about 2 min. We conclude that this result gives insight on the current systems high in Earth’s atmosphere, which are the main driver behind the time derivative’s behavior and GIC formation.
Homayon Aryan, Jacob Bortnik, Jinxing Li, James Michael Weygand, Xiangning Chu, and Vassilis Angelopoulos
Ann. Geophys., 40, 531–544, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-40-531-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-40-531-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we use a multipoint analysis of conjugate magnetospheric and ionospheric observations to investigate the magnetospheric and ionospheric responses to fast flow bursts that are associated with different space weather conditions. The results show that ionospheric currents are connected to the magnetospheric flows for different space weather conditions. The connection is more apparent and global for flows that are associated with a geomagnetically active condition.
Sebastian Käki, Ari Viljanen, Liisa Juusola, and Kirsti Kauristie
Ann. Geophys., 40, 107–119, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-40-107-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-40-107-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
During auroral substorms, the ionospheric electric currents change rapidly, and a large amount of energy is dissipated. We combine ionospheric current data derived from the Swarm satellite mission with the substorm database from the SuperMAG ground magnetometer network. We obtain statistics of the strength and location of the currents relative to the substorm onset. Our results show that low-earth orbit satellites give a coherent picture of the main features in the substorm current system.
Lucile Turc, Vertti Tarvus, Andrew P. Dimmock, Markus Battarbee, Urs Ganse, Andreas Johlander, Maxime Grandin, Yann Pfau-Kempf, Maxime Dubart, and Minna Palmroth
Ann. Geophys., 38, 1045–1062, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-38-1045-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-38-1045-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Using global computer simulations, we study properties of the magnetosheath, the region of near-Earth space where the stream of particles originating from the Sun, the solar wind, is slowed down and deflected around the Earth's magnetic field. One of our main findings is that even for idealised solar wind conditions as used in our model, the magnetosheath density shows large-scale spatial and temporal variation in the so-called quasi-parallel magnetosheath, causing varying levels of asymmetry.
Liisa Juusola, Heikki Vanhamäki, Ari Viljanen, and Maxim Smirnov
Ann. Geophys., 38, 983–998, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-38-983-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-38-983-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Rapid variations of the magnetic field measured on the ground can be used to estimate space weather risks to power grids, but forecasting the variations remains a challenge. We show that part of this problem stems from the fact that, in addition to electric currents in space, the magnetic field variations are strongly affected by underground electric currents. We suggest that separating the measured field into its space and underground parts could improve our understanding of space weather.
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Short summary
We have examined events during which the measured magnetic field on the ground changes very rapidly, causing a risk to technological conductor networks. According to our results, such events occur when strong electric currents in the ionosphere at 100 km altitude are abruptly modified by sudden compression or expansion of the magnetospheric magnetic field farther in space.
We have examined events during which the measured magnetic field on the ground changes very...