Intense keV energy polar rain

Journal Article · Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1990 · Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/JA095iA06p07869· OSTI ID:5376550

Newell, P T; Meng, Ching-I ^[1]

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1. Johns Hopkins Univ., Laurel, MD (USA)

Polar rain is usually a weak, diffuse precipitation of electrons with intensities below 0.1 erg/cm{sup 2} s and temperatures around 80 eV. Occasionally, it can have much higher fluxes and temperatures. The authors carried out an investigation using an automated search of the DMSP F7 polar cap precipitation over a 1,100-day interval to find all the days with reasonably intense (> 10{sup 6} eV/cm{sup 2} s sr) fluxes in one or more {ge}1-keV electron channels above 80 MLAT. After they eliminated precipitation associated with polar cap arcs, 17 such days were found. For 11 days, the precipitation was at least 0.4 erg/cm{sup 2} s, and on 4 days it reached a few ergs/cm{sup 2} s (for example, n = 0.85/cm{sup 3}, and kT = 2,000 eV). A fairly uniform polar rain over the polar caps at this intensity approximately equals the hemispherical energy flux over the entire auroral oval. Like ordinary polar rain, the keV precipitation occurs in only one hemisphere and is generally accompanied by an often high-density polar rain at more typical energies. No particular association with storms or poststorm quieting was evident in our sample; instead, the results appear to be consistent with the model of Fairfield and Scudder, in that there is an apparent association between intense keV polar rain and low solar-wind densities. The keV electrons were not observed within the cusp proper, futher supporting the concept of polar rain as a special component of the solar-wind electron population. A peristent gap between the poleward edge of auroral electron precipitation and the occurrence of polar rain is observed; the gap is largest at dusk, smaller at dawn, still smaller near midnight, and nonexistent on the dayside. They interpret the field lines poleward of the auroral-oval precipitation and equatorward of polar rain as recently closed field lines.

• OSTI ID: 5376550
• Journal Information: Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States), Vol. 95:A6; ISSN 0148-0227
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
POLAR REGIONS
ELECTRON PRECIPITATION
AURORAL OVAL
BOUNDARY LAYERS
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELDS
KEV RANGE
ORIGIN
PLASMA DENSITY
POLAR CUSP
POLAR-CAP AURORAE
RADIATION FLUX
SATELLITES
SOLAR WIND
AURORAE
CHARGED-PARTICLE PRECIPITATION
ENERGY RANGE
LAYERS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
SOLAR ACTIVITY
640201* - Atmospheric Physics- Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magetospheric Phenomena