Plasmasphere refilling: New numerical and observational tools
- Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
- Michigan Univ., Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
This is the final report of a three-year, Laboratory-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The outflow of plasma from the ionosphere and its interactions in the outer magnetosphere remain important problems in space physics. While outflow is a continuous process, it becomes even more important after geomagnetic substorms when magnetic field lines that have been vented of plasma are reconnected. The purpose of this project was to develop new computational, theoretical, and observational tools to study plasma dynamics and heating associated with the outflow and refilling processes. In particular, we have developed new numerical methods to model the transition from collisional plasma flow at low altitudes to collisionless behavior at high altitudes and incorporated them in a multi-species kinetic simulation model to model the outflow process. We have also investigated electromagnetic instabilities in the outer magnetosphere to understand their contribution to the heating of upflowing protons and minority ions. In addition, new observational techniques have been used to analyze geosynchronous plasma data and to assess the effect of the spacecraft potential on the observations.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 524854
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-97-2176; ON: DE97008575
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: [1997]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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