RECONNECTION VOLTAGE AS A FUNCTION OF IMF CLOCK ANGLE

Magnetic reconnection between the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and the geomagnetic field is thought to play a major role in the transfer of solar wind momentum and energy to the magnetosphere. Both analytic modeling and analysis of geophysical data have shown that this coupling process should be a sensitive function of the clock angle of the IMF. In this letter we present results from a 3-dimensional, magnetohydrodynamic (MHD), global numerical simulation code for the reconnection voltage between the closed geomagnetic field and the IMF as a function of the IMF clock angle. These results are consistent with a sin(theta/2) functional behavior.