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Model Study Of Ground Magnetic Signatures Of Traveling Convection Vortices, Lie Zhu, P. Gifford, Jan Josef Sojka, Robert W. Schunk

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We conducted a model study of ground magnetic signatures of traveling convection vortices (TCVs) that included both the ionospheric conductivity enhancement associated with the TCVs and the ground induction effect. We found that the localized conductivity enhancement can cause a significant distortion of the TCV current system and lead to a distortion of the ground magnetic disturbance patterns. The patterns of all three magnetic components are asymmetric, mainly in the E-W direction, and the patterns of the Z component show the strongest asymmetry (20–30%). We also found that the effect of induction currents on ground magnetic signatures of the TCVs …