Ionospheric response to flux transfer events at the earth's magnetopause

Flux transfer events (FTE) are thought to be the manifestation of the pulsed reconnection process by which interplanetary magnetic field lines and Earth's magnetic field lines merge. They are observed at the magnetopause as bipolar signatures in the magnetic field component perpendicular to the magnetopause (normal component) as the distorted newly reconnected field lines get dragged by the magnetic tension and the solar wind. FTEs are also observed in the ionosphere by ground-based instrumentations. Optical instruments commonly record poleward moving auroral forms in the red line (630nm) corresponding to low-energy electron precipitation. SuperDARN radars observe the convection associated to FTEs as enhanced flow channels. The EISCAT radars on the Svalbard archipelago have revealed the transient and impulsive nature of the ionosphere under the polar cusp for southward IMF. We have performed a simulation of the ionospheric footprint of a FTE by including the Southwood model of FTE in the TRANSCAR model of ionosphere. We can trace the evolution of an open flux tube and the behaviour and dynamics of the surrounding ionospheric plasma. We particularly focus on the signature of the two areas of return flow on both side of the FTE footprint. Those return flow may actually be responsible of some of the structures observed by Incoherent Scatter radars such as the Eiscat Svalbard Radar (ESR). We then compare our simulations with observations and finally discuss the pros and cons of the Southwood model of FTE.