Thermal and suprathermal protons and alpha particles in the earth's plasma sheet
We have investigated thermal and suprathermal protons (from approx.13 keV to approx.1 MeV) and alpha particles (from approx.30 keV/Q to 130 keV/Q) in the quasi-stable plasma sheet near local midnight at geocentric distances of approx.12--20 R/sub E/. The data, obtained during five different plasma sheet penetrations with the Max-Planck-Institut/University of Maryland sensor system on ISEE 1, represent the first measurements of plasma sheet ion composition in this energy range. Below approx.16 keV the proton spectra can be represented by a Maxwellian distribution. Above approx.16 keV we find a suprathermal tail which cannot be represented by a single power law. In some cases the suprathermal population consists of two distinct components: a low-energy component falling off sharply at approx.100 keV and a high-energy component extending up to approx.1 MeV. The high-energy component often decays with time during expansion of the plasma sheet. Alpha particle to proton ratios average approx.3% and are observed to be constant at either equal energy per nucleon or energy per charge.
- Research Organization:
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742
- OSTI ID:
- 5909280
- Journal Information:
- J. Geophys. Res.; (United States), Vol. 88:A1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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