Conjugate Ionospheric Response to Dayside Reconnection in Both Hemispheres

Abstract

Magnetic reconnection, the dominant process responsible for energy and plasma transport into the magnetosphere, influences plasma circulation in the Earth's polar ionospheres. However, the conjugate response in the two polar ionospheres is not well documented. In this work, based on a case study analysis on 11 February 2004, we used a combination of EISCAT and Super Dual Auroral Radar Network radars in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres to investigate the one‐to‐one ionospheric response to dayside magnetic reconnection in the two hemispheres under a southward interplanetary magnetic field. A series of flux transfer events generated by magnetic reconnection enhanced the throat convection and voltage in the polar regions. The observations suggest that newly opened magnetic flux tubes in the summer hemisphere moved faster toward the polar cap than in the winter hemisphere due to dayside magnetic reconnection. This hemispheric asymmetry may be due to factors such as magnetic reconnection kink degree, the coverage of radar echoes.