Magnetic Tilt Effect on Externally Driven Electromagnetic Ion Cyclotron (EMIC) Waves.

We examine coupling of fluctuations in the solar wind with electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves in the magnetosphere using an advanced full‐wave simulation code, Petra‐M. Dipole tilt dramatically affects the coupling process. While very little wave power can reach the inner magnetosphere without tilt effects, a tilted dipole field dramatically increases the efficiency of the coupling process. Solar wind fluctuations incident at high magnetic latitude effectively reaches the ground along the field line and mode‐convert to linearly polarized field‐aligned propagating waves at the Alfvén and IIH resonances. Therefore, solar wind compressions efficiently drive linearly polarized EMIC waves when the dipole angle is tilted toward or away from the Sun‐Earth direction. Plain Language Summary: The solar wind is emitted near the ecliptic planes, and solar wind pressure is one of the critical sources of wave activities in the Earth's magnetosphere. Since Earth's magnetic field is tilted to the ecliptic plane, compressed solar wind fluctuations can be incident over a wide range of magnetic latitudes depending on seasonal and diurnal variations. When the solar wind fluctuations reach Earth's magnetosphere, incoming wave energy can be linearly transferred to another wave mode, called a mode coupling. This paper examines the role of Earth's magnetic tilt on this mode coupling between solar wind fluctuation and electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves using an advanced full‐wave simulation code, Petra‐M. Without magnetic tilt, solar wind fluctuations incident at a low latitude are almost totally reflected. In contrast, solar wind fluctuations incident at high latitude can propagate efficiently into the inner magnetosphere and reach the ground. Compressional fluctuations can also be converted to linearly polarized, field‐aligned propagating waves. These results suggest that solar wind compressions can drive the linearly polarized EMIC waves and that the wave occurrence can have seasonal and diurnal dependence, which is expected to maximize at the maximum tilt of Earth's dipole into the Sun‐Earth direction. Key Points: Wave mode coupling of solar wind fluctuation to electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves is examined using an advanced 2D‐full wave simulation code, Petra‐MWhen the dipole magnetic field is tilted, compressional waves can reach the ground near the cusp region via mode conversionThe solar wind can drive linearly polarized EMIC waves via mode conversion more efficiently when the dipole field is tilted [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]