Investigating the polar electrojet using Swarm satellite magnetic data

The aim of this study is to investigate the magnetic perturbations caused by the polar electrojets, which are described by means of a model consisting of a series of infinite line currents placed at the height of the ionosphere along QD latitudes. The method is applied to Swarm magnetic scalar perturbations (which means observations after removal of contributions from the core, crust and the large-scale magnetosphere) in the Polar Regions (+/- 50 degrees from the poles) for individual satellite passes.

The obtained estimates of ionospheric currents provide information on the position and strength of the polar electrojets as well as their temporal evolution. In addition, applying the method to data taken by the Swarm satellites Alpha and Beta allows investigating longitudinal differences of the electrojets.