Testing the SOC hypothesis for the magnetosphere

As noted by Chang, the hypothesis of self-organised criticality provides a theoretical framework in which the low dimensionality seen in magnetospheric indices can be combined with the scaling seen in their power spectra and with observed plasma bursty bulk flows. As such, it has considerable appeal, describing the aspects of the magnetospheric fuelling:storage:release cycle which are generic to slowly-driven, interaction-dominated, thresholded systems rather than unique to the magnetosphere. In consequence, several recent numerical “sandpile” algorithms have been used with a view to comparison with magnetospheric observables. However, demonstration of SOC in the magnetosphere will require further work in the definition of a set of observable properties which are the unique “fingerprint” of SOC. This is because, for example, a scale-free power spectrum admits several possible explanations other than SOC. A more subtle problem is important for both simulations and data analysis when dealing with multiscale and hence broad-band phenomena such as SOC. This is that finite length systems such as the magnetosphere or magnetotail will by definition give information over a small range of orders of magnitude, and so scaling will tend to be narrow band. Here we develop a simple framework in which previous descriptions of magnetospheric dynamics can be described and contrasted. We then review existing observations which are indicative of SOC, and ask if they are sufficient to demonstrate it unambiguously, and if not, what new observations need to be made?