A new time-dependent ionosphere–magnetosphere coupling model: Comparison of field-aligned currents against ST5 observations

By using Tsyganenko's model for the magnetosphere's magnetic field, which links two hemispheres of the ionosphere, and adopting a practical boundary condition for the electric potential around the polar cap, we developed a new ionosphere–magnetosphere coupling model based on prairie view dynamo code (PVDC). The new model takes the variations in solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field, as well as the geomagnetic activity, into account. Rather than the previous version of PVDC that is useful only for quiet conditions, the new model enables to calculate the electric potential and currents in the ionosphere and the field-aligned current (FAC) off the ionosphere in quiet and disturbed times. Comparison of the calculated FAC with the measurements of Space Technology 5 (ST5) mission shows a good agreement.