Current Systems in Planetary Magnetospheres and Ionospheres
Glassmeier, Karl-Heinz; Fedorov, Andrei; Baumjohann, Wolfgang; Blanc, Michel
Austria, France, Germany
Abstract
The interaction of planets with the solar wind produces a diversity of current systems, yet these can be classified into only a few different types, which include ionospheric currents, currents carried by magnetospheric boundaries like the magnetopause or ionopause, magnetotail currents, and currents flowing inside the magnetospheres, like ring currents, plasma sheet currents and currents aligned to the magnetic field lines (or field-aligned currents).