Articles | Volume 43, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-43-667-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-43-667-2025
Regular paper
 | Highlight paper
 | 
29 Oct 2025
Regular paper | Highlight paper |  | 29 Oct 2025

Properties of large-amplitude kilometer-scale field-aligned currents at auroral latitudes, as derived from Swarm satellites

Yun-Liang Zhou and Hermann Lühr

Viewed

Total article views: 2,798 (including HTML, PDF, and XML)
HTML PDF XML Total BibTeX EndNote
2,699 62 37 2,798 123 148
  • HTML: 2,699
  • PDF: 62
  • XML: 37
  • Total: 2,798
  • BibTeX: 123
  • EndNote: 148
Views and downloads (calculated since 19 May 2025)
Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 19 May 2025)

Viewed (geographical distribution)

Total article views: 2,798 (including HTML, PDF, and XML) Thereof 2,792 with geography defined and 6 with unknown origin.
Country # Views %
  • 1
1
 
 
 
 
Latest update: 31 Oct 2025
Download
Editor-in-chief
This research significantly enhances our understanding of small-scale field-aligned currents observed in the cusp and auroral regions of the high-latitude ionosphere. The investigation utilizes dual-spacecraft high-resolution magnetic field measurements of the Swarm mission to reveal new characteristics of field-aligned currents across multiple scale sizes and temporal variations spanning 0.04 to 5 seconds.
Short summary
By using magnetic field recordings sampled at 50 Hz by Swarm A and C satellites around the quasi-coplanar orbit configuration, near 1 October 2021, we investigate the properties of kilometer-scale field-aligned currents (FACs) at auroral latitudes. The kilometer-scale (0.2-5 km) FACs exhibit short-lived (<1 s) randomly appearing large current density spikes (partly exceeding 100 µA m-2). Preferred occurrences are the noon to prenoon (nightside to dusk) sector around 80° (70°) MLat, respectively.
Share