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Many studies have attempted to quantify the coupling of energy from the solar wind into the magnetosphere. In this paper we parameterize the dependence of the magnetopause reconnection rate on interplanetary parameters from the OMNI data set. The reconnection rate is measured as the rate of expansion of the polar cap during periods when the nightside reconnection rate is thought to be low, determined from observations by the Imager for Magnetopause‐to‐Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) Far Ultraviolet (FUV) imager. Our fitting suggests that the reconnection rate is determined by the magnetic flux transport in the solar wind across a channel approximately 4 RE in width, with a small correction dependent on the solar wind speed, and a clock angle dependence. The reconnection rate is not found to be significantly dependent on the solar wind density. Comparison of the modeled reconnection rate with SuperDARN measurements of the cross‐polar cap potential provides broad support for the magnitude of the predictions. In the course of the paper we discuss the relationship between the dayside reconnection rate and the cross‐polar cap potential. Key Points The expanding polar cap is used to quantify magnetopause reconnection rate This is correlated with interplanetary parameters to determine relationship Reconnection rate governed by solar wind electric field and velocity correction

Transpolar arcs are auroral features that extend from the nightside auroral oval into the polar cap. It is well established that they occur predominantly when the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) has a northward component (Bz > 0). Results concerning how the magnetic local time at which transpolar arcs form might depend upon the IMF dawn‐dusk component (BY) are more mixed. Some studies have found a correlation between these two variables, with Northern Hemisphere arcs forming predominantly premidnight when BY > 0 and postmidnight when BY < 0 and vice versa in the Southern Hemisphere. However, a more recent statistical study found that there was no significant correlation, and other studies find that the formation of moving arcs is triggered by a change in the sign of the IMF BY component. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between the magnetic local time at which transpolar arcs form and the IMF BY component. It is found that there is indeed a correlation between the magnetic local time at which transpolar arcs form and the IMF BY component, which acts in opposite senses in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. However, this correlation is weak if the IMF is only averaged over the hour before the first emergence of the arc and becomes stronger if the IMF is averaged 3–4 h beforehand. This is consistent with a mechanism where the magnetic local time at which the arc first forms depends on the BY component in the magnetotail adjacent to the plasma sheet, which is determined by the IMF BY component during intervals of dayside reconnection in the hours preceding the first emergence of the arc. We do not find evidence for the triggering of arcs by an IMF BY sign change. Key Points Local time of transpolar arcs is dependent upon IMF BY component Dependence is strongest if IMF is evaluated about 4 h before arc is observed Four hour delay is consistent with formation mechanisms involving tail plasma sheet

The region 1 (R1) and region 2 current systems typically form concentric rings of field‐aligned currents in the polar ionospheres; we term the inner ring the R1 oval. We apply an automated fitting scheme to field‐aligned current densities provided by the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment (AMPERE) and identify the latitude of maximum R1 current at all magnetic local times to yield the size of the R1 oval. We investigate the dynamics of the R1 oval size in response to geomagnetic activity for two cases corresponding to: repeated substorm activations with a minimally enhanced ring current; a significant ring current enhancement with multiple substorms. During the first event the dynamics of the R1 oval size reflected an expanding‐contracting polar cap: during substorm growth phase dayside reconnection added open magnetic flux to the polar cap, expanding the R1 oval equatorward. Tail reconnection during the substorm expansion phase converted open into closed magnetic flux and the polar cap contracts as reflected by the poleward retreat of the R1 oval. During the period of enhanced ring current intensity the R1 oval grew to larger sizes during each substorm growth phase than it did during the other event, consistent with the suggestion that a stronger ring current stabilizes the magnetospheric tail to the onset of magnetic reconnection. The presented methodology allows AMPERE data to be condensed into a single parameter, the R1 oval size, which reflects magnetospheric dynamics and provides a convenient measure of the instantaneous magnetospheric system state in both hemispheres. Key Points Global FAC data can be condensed into one parameter, the R1 oval size The parameter captures magnetospheric dynamics due to day/nightside reconnection The R1 oval size is a measure of the instantaneous magnetospheric state

Transpolar arcs are large‐scale auroral features which are observed within the polar cap when the IMF has a northward component. One leading candidate formation mechanism proposes that they are formed by reconnection in the magnetotail some time after a period of dayside reconnection with a non‐zero IMF BY component which introduces a twist into the magnetotail. As a result of the twist, the mechanism predicts that the return flows of the newly closed magnetic field lines are asymmetric about midnight; their direction should depend upon the IMF BY component in the hours beforehand and should be opposite in the northern and southern hemispheres. In this paper, we use data from the SuperDARN network of high‐latitude ionospheric radars to examine whether such ionospheric flows are present before the formation of 33 transpolar arcs. We find that the flows are present and in a manner that is consistent with the reconnection mechanism for 76% of the events; in the remaining few, the discrepancy can be attributed either to an uncertainty in the formation time determined for the arc (due to previous polar cap activity in the same local time sector) or due to the geometry of the radars which observe the backscatter. Key Points Transpolar arcs are generally preceded by characteristic ionospheric flows Ionospheric flows indicate magnetotail reconnection during northward IMF Observations indicate transpolar arcs are formed by magnetotail reconnection

The structure of Earth's magnetosphere is poorly understood when the interplanetary magnetic field is northward. Under this condition, uncharacteristically energetic plasma is observed in the magnetotail lobes, which is not expected in the textbook model of the magnetosphere. Using satellite observations, we show that these lobe plasma signatures occur on high-latitude magnetic field lines that have been closed by the fundamental plasma process of magnetic reconnection. Previously, it has been suggested that closed flux can become trapped in the lobe and that this plasma-trapping process could explain another poorly understood phenomenon: the presence of auroras at extremely high latitudes, called transpolar arcs. Observations of the aurora at the same time as the lobe plasma signatures reveal the presence of a transpolar arc. The excellent correspondence between the transpolar arc and the trapped closed flux at high altitudes provides very strong evidence of the trapping mechanism as the cause of transpolar arcs.

Spacecraft observations have established that all known planets with an internal magnetic field, as part of their interaction with the solar wind, possess well-developed magnetic tails, stretching vast distances on the nightside of the planets. In this review paper we focus on the magnetotails of Mercury, Earth, Jupiter and Saturn, four planets which possess well-developed tails and which have been visited by several spacecraft over the years. The fundamental physical processes of reconnection, convection, and charged particle acceleration are common to the magnetic tails of Mercury, Earth, Jupiter and Saturn. The great differences in solar wind conditions, planetary rotation rates, internal plasma sources, ionospheric properties, and physical dimensions from Mercury’s small magnetosphere to the giant magnetospheres of Jupiter and Saturn provide an outstanding opportunity to extend our understanding of the influence of such factors on basic processes. In this review article, we study the four planetary environments of Mercury, Earth, Jupiter and Saturn, comparing their common features and contrasting their unique dynamics.

We study atmospheric escape from Mars during solar wind pressure pulses. During the solar minimum of 2007–08 we have observed 41 high pressure events, which are predominantly identified as corotating interaction regions (CIR) while a few are coronal mass ejections (CME), in data from the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) upstream of the Earth. 36 of these events are also identified using Mars Express (MEX) data at Mars. We use MEX measurements at Mars to compare the antisunward fluxes of heavy planetary ions during the passage of these pulses to the fluxes during quiet solar wind conditions. The ion fluxes are observed to increase by a factor of ∼2.5, on average. Hence, a third of the total outflow from Mars takes place during ∼15% of the time, when a solar wind pressure pulse impacts on the planet. This can have important consequences for the total time‐integrated outflow of plasma from Mars.

Equivalent ionospheric currents obtained with the spherical elementary current systems (SECS) method and derived from nearly 100 ground magnetometers spread over North America and Greenland are compared with ionospheric flow vectors measured by the SuperDARN radars during both the summer and winter seasons. This comparison is done over a range of spatial separations, magnetic latitudes, magnetic local times, and auroral electrojet activity to investigate under what conditions the vectors are anti‐parallel to one another. Our results show that in general the equivalent ionospheric currents are anti‐parallel to the flows and the best results are achieved within the auroral oval during active geomagnetic conditions in the dawn, dusk and noon sectors in the northern hemisphere summer. These results indicate the best anti‐parallel alignment occurs when the currents and flows are large and well defined. Factors that may influence the alignment include ionospheric conductivity gradients and quiet time backgrounds. Our results can be used to approximate the macroscopic (∼1000 km) ionospheric convection patterns. The SECS maps represent a value‐added product from the raw magnetometer database and can be used for contextual interpretation; they can help with our understanding of magnetosphere‐ionosphere coupling mechanisms using ground arrays and the magnetospheric spacecraft data, and they can be used as input for other techniques. Key Points The equivalent currents are nearly antiparallel to the ionospheric flow Results vary with latitude, geomagnetic activity, local time, and season Equivalent currents could be used as a proxy for the ionospheric flow

This work reports for the first time on bifurcations of the main auroral ring at Saturn observed with the UVIS instrument onboard Cassini. The observation sequence starts with an intensification on the main oval, close to noon, which is possibly associated with dayside reconnection. Consecutive bifurcations appear with the onset of dayside reconnection, between 11 and 18 magnetic local time, while the area poleward of the main emission expands to lower latitudes. The bifurcations depart with time from the main ring of emission, which is related to the open‐closed field line boundary. The augmentation of the area poleward of the main emission following its expansion is balanced by the area occupied by the bifurcations, suggesting that these auroral features represent the amount of newly open flux and could be related to consecutive reconnection events at the flank of the magnetopause. The observations show that the open flux along the sequence increases when bifurcations appear. Magnetopause reconnection can lead to significant augmentation of the open flux within a couple of days and each reconnection event opens ∼10% of the flux contained within the polar cap. Additionally, the observations imply an overall length of the reconnection line of ∼4 hours of local time and suggest that dayside reconnection at Saturn can occur at several positions on the magnetopause consecutively or simultaneously. Key Points First observations on bifurcations of the main auroral ring at Saturn The bifurcations could be the ionospheric signature of reconnection events The auroral bifurcations represent the amount of newly open flux

There is a long‐standing debate on the causes of the semiannual variation of geomagnetic activity. One of the prevailing hypotheses is that the Earth's dipole tilt angle Ψ${\\Psi }$modulates the dayside reconnection rate, causing the so‐called equinoctial effect. Here we perform the first large‐scale statistical study to test this hypothesis. We identified isolated substorms in 2010–2023 and used the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment measurements to determine the open magnetic flux variations and estimates of the dayside reconnection rate during these substorm events. We find that a greater amount of open flux is stored in the tail prior to the expansion phase during low Ψ${\\Psi }$than during large Ψ${\\Psi }$ . This is due to a dipole tilt dependence of the dayside reconnection rate, and possibly another mechanism operating in the magnetotail. These two effects contribute to the equinoctial effect and the semiannual variation of geomagnetic activity.