Joule heating and field-aligned currents: Preliminary results from DE-2

There are three main processes by which energy is transferred from the magnetosphere to the thermosphere: (1) charge exchange of the ring current particles; (2) precipitation of charged particles; and (3) joule dissipation by the magnetosphere-ionosphere current systems. The importance of this last process has been recognized and the rate of joule heating has been estimated by many workers. Observations of the electric (E) and magnetic (B) fields from Dynamics Explorer Satellite 2 are providing a new set of data on field-aligned currents. One of the remarkable features found in these observations is the high correlation between an orthogonal pair of the E and B field components. In recent years, observational data have accrued concerning the relationship between the interplanetary magnetic field and the size of the polar cap and also about the evolution of a substorm or a magnetic storm. It is suggested that these findings be incorporated in future model calculations.