Abstract

We study the statistics of magnetosphere-ionosphere (MI) coupling in global MHD simulation from a 2-month of Lyon-Fedder-Mobarry (L:FM) model simulation wihch is also know as the "CISM-LFM Long Run" simulation. We compare the most important MI coupling characteristics such as average field-aligne... Show moreWe study the statistics of magnetosphere-ionosphere (MI) coupling in global MHD simulation from a 2-month of Lyon-Fedder-Mobarry (L:FM) model simulation wihch is also know as the "CISM-LFM Long Run" simulation. We compare the most important MI coupling characteristics such as average field-aligned current (FAC), polar cap potential with statistical results created in Iijima and Potemra [1976] and Weimer 05 empirical model. This statistical validation represents an effective way of systematically qualifying MI coupling module in global MHD simulations such as the LFM model. Comparison results show that in LFM the region 1 currents have both reasonable spatial and magnetic local time distributions. The region 2 current patterns in LFM also agree well with both statistical maps created from observational data and empirical model. We also calculate the average behavior of field-aligned current and polar cap potential in LFM under 9 IMF orientations. Results show that LFM has similar relationship between ionospheric field-aligned current, polar cap potential and the corresponding IMF conditions as the Weimer 05 model. Show less