Observations of IMF and seasonal effects in high-latitude convection
Strong interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and seasonal effects in the convection of nightside ionospheric plasma are described. The findings are based on a statistical analysis of observations made with the Johns Hopkins University/ Applied Physics Lab (JHU/APL) HF radar located at Goose Bay, Labrador. For positive sign of the IMF dusk-dawn component, By greater than 0 the dawn cell is more crescent shaped and the dusk cell more round while for BY less than 0 these pairings of size and shape are reversed. The more extreme crescent /round cell dichotomy is obtained for BY greater than 0. The return flows associated with the crescent-shaped cell dominate at midnight MLT (magnetic local time); the reversal in the zonal velocity in the 67 deg-69 deg lambda (magnetic latitude) interval occurs 2.5 hr earlier in summer than in winter. The maximum effects are obtained on the nightside for the pairings By greater than 0, summer and BY less than 0, winter; the first produces the more structured cell in the morning, the second in the evening, and this cell dominates the return flow at midnight. The difference in the zonal flow reversals for these pairings exceeds 4 hr in MLT.