Hall Currents in the Aurora

  • T. A. Potemra
Chapter

Abstract

In the eighteenth century, Anders Celsius noted that magnetic disturbances occurred during periods of auroral displays. At the end of the nineteenth century, Kristian Birkeland established magnetic observatories in northern Scandinavia, and determined that the “auroral” magnetic disturbances were caused by intense electric currents flowing horizontally above the earth’s surface in the as yet undiscovered ionosphere. These currents are now known to be Hall currents that flow perpendicular to both the earth’s magnetic field and intense electric fields which are generated at great distances from the earth. These Hall Auroral currents can be as large as one million amperes during periods when more power is deposited in the auroral zones than is generated in the entire United States. Numerous satellite, rocket, and ground-based observational programs are presently being directed toward an understanding of the auroral currents and how they are coupled to interplanetary space. Progress in understanding some of these phenomena is reviewed.

Keywords

Solar Wind Hall Current Hall Conductivity Auroral Zone Magnetic Disturbance 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 1980

Authors and Affiliations

  • T. A. Potemra
    • 1
  1. 1.Applied Physics LaboratoryThe Johns Hopkins UniversityLaurelUSA

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