The diamagnetic effect of the equatorial Appleton anomaly: Its characteristics and impact on geomagnetic field modeling

The diamagnetic effect generally reduces the magnetic field inside a plasma. Its importance is appreciated in regions like the magnetosphere and the solar wind. In the ionosphere, depletions of the geomagnetic field have up to now been considered negligible. The CHAMP satellite provides for the first time the combination of high‐resolution magnetic field measurements and plasma density observations on the same spacecraft in low‐Earth orbit. We show the typical distribution of electron density at the altitude of about 430 km for various local times. Particularly prominent features are the density enhancements north and south of the dip equator. As expected, the magnetic field intensity is depressed in the crest region by an amount of more than 5 nT. The diamagnetic effect is strongest from sunset to midnight and thus causes errors in global geomagnetic field models which are usually computed from data sampled at all night‐time hours.