Electric Currents in Geospace and Beyond

Electric currents are fundamental to the structure and dynamics of space plasmas, including our own near–Earth space environment, or "geospace." This volume takes an integrated approach to the subject of electric currents by incorporating their phenomenology and physics for many regions in one volume. Electric Currents in Geospace and Beyond covers a broad range of topics from the pioneers of electric currents in outer space, to measurement and analysis techniques, and the many types of electric currents.

First volume on electric currents in space in over a decade that provides authoritative up–to–date insight on the current status of research Reviews recent advances in observations, simulation, and theory of electric currents Provides comparative overviews of electric currents in the space environments of different astronomical bodies

Electric Currents in Geospace and Beyond serves as an excellent reference volume for a broad community of space scientists, astronomers, and astrophysicists who are studying space plasmas in the solar system.

Preface
Andreas Keiling, Octav Marghitu and Michael Wheatland

Dedication
Kirsti Kauristie

List of Contributors

Section 1: Introduction

Chapter 1: Pioneers of Electric Currents in Geospace
Asgeir Brekke

Chapter 2: Current Systems in Planetary Magnetospheres: A Comparative Overview
Krishan Khurana and Jiang Liu

Chapter 3: Electric Currents in the Solar Atmosphere
Gregory Fleishman and Alexei Pevtsov

Chapter 4: Multi–point Analysis of Electric Currents in Geospace using the Curlometer Technique
M. W. Dunlop, S. Haaland, X–C. Dong, H. Middleton, P. Escoubet, Y–Y. Yang, Q–H Zhang, J–K. Shi and C.T. Russell

Chapter 5: Inferring Currents from the Zeeman Effect at the Solar Surface
Graham Barnes and K.D. Leka

Section 2: Ring Currents

Chapter 6: ENA Imaging of Planetary Ring Currents
P. C. Brandt, S. Y. Hsieh, R. DeMajistre and D. G. Mitchell

Chapter 7: Terrestrial Ring Current: A Review of Cluster Results Based on the Curlometer Technique
I. Dandouras, S. Rochel–Grimald, C. Vallat, and M. W. Dunlop

Chapter 8: The Nature of Jupiter s Magnetodisk Current System
Nick Achilleos

Chapter 9: The Ring Current of Saturn
N. Sergis, E. J. Bunce, J. F. Carbary, S. W. H. Cowley, X. Jia, D. C. Hamilton, S. M. Krimigis, D. G. Mitchell and M. K. Dougherty

Section 3: Current Sheets

Chapter 10: Review on the Characteristics of the Current Sheet in the Earth′s Magnetotail
Anthony Lui

Chapter 11: Recent Advances Regarding the Mars Magnetotail Current Sheet
Michael Liemohn and Shaosui Xu

Chapter 12: Current Sheets at the Giant Planets
Chris Arridge and Carley Martin

Chapter 13: Planetary Magnetopause and Heliopause Current Sheets
Elena Belenkaya

Chapter 14: MHS Models of Current Layers in the Solar Atmosphere
Clare Parnell

Chapter 15: Large–scale Current Sheets in Flares and CMEs
Jun Lin and Lei Ni

Section 4: Field–Aligned Currents

Chapter 16: A Review of Birkeland Current Research using AMPERE
John Coxon, Steve Milan and Brian Anderson

Chapter 17: Birkeland Currents at Mercury: Review and Comparison with Earth
Brian J. Anderson, Catherine L. Johnson, Haje Korth, and Lydia C. Philpott

Chapter 18: Recent Advances in the Study of Upward Field–Aligned Currents Generated Near the Earth′s Magnetopause Boundary
Simon Wing, Johnson Jay, and Marius Echim

Chapter 19: The Current System of Dipolarizing Flux Bundles and their Role as Wedgelets in the Substorm Current Wedge
Jiang Liu, V. Angelopoulos, Zhonghua Yao, Xiangning Chu, Xu–Zhi Zhou and A. Runov

Chapter 20: Cusp Current System: An Energy Source View
Masatoshi Yamauchi and Rikard Slapak

Chapter 21: Magnetospheric and Atmospheric Controls of Giant Planet Auroral Currents
Licia Ray

Chapter 22: The Ambivalent Role of Field–Aligned Electric Currents in the Solar Atmosphere
Manolis Georgoulis

Chapter 23: Solar Active Region Electric Currents Before and During Eruptive Flares
Brigitte Schmieder and Guillaume Aulanier

Section 5: Ionospheric Currents

Chapter 24: Review of Data Analysis Techniques for Estimating Ionospheric Currents Based on MIRACLE and Satellite Observations
Heikki Vanhamäki and Lisa Juusola

Chapter 25: Earth s Ionosphere: Theory and Phenomenology of Cowling Channels
Akimasa Yoshikawa and Ryoichi Fujii

Chapter 26: Ionospheric Currents at Mars and their Electrodynamic Effects
Matthew Fillingim

Chapter 27: Ionospheric Currents due to Ionosphere–Magnetosphere Coupling at Jupiter and Saturn
Gregory Hunt, Stanley Cowley and Jonathan Nichols

Section 6: Other Current Systems

Chapter 28: The Bow Shock Current System
Ramon Lopez

Chapter 29: Current Systems of Inert Moons
Mats Holmstrom and Shahab Fatemi

Chapter 30: Currents in Cometary Comae
Martin Volwerk

Andreas Keiling, University of California, Berkeley, USA

Octav Marghitu, Institute of Space Sciences, Romania

Michael Wheatland, University of Sydney, Australia