Energy Inflow into the Magnetosphere and Its Distribution During Magnetic Storm

Abstract

The energy inflow from the solar wind into the magnetosphere and its dissipation in the circular current and auroral ionosphere during maximums of magnetic storm intensity are considered. All magnetic storms with Dst intensities from –18 nT to –422 nT for the period from 1996 to 2014 were divided into groups. For each group, the mean contribution of energy from the solar wind to the magnetosphere and subsequent characteristics of the energy dissipation in the auroral ionosphere and circular current were determined by the superposed epoch analysis method. The nonlinearity of the dependence of the intensity of magnetic storms on the energy coming from the solar wind into the magnetosphere was revealed. Anomalous behavior of magnetic storms with intensity |Dst| > 200 nT was detected. A discussion of the results is given.