Relative contributions of terrestrial and solar wind ions in the plasma sheet

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1985 · Adv. Space Res.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5797535

Lennartsson, W; Sharp, R D

A major uncertainty concerning the origins of plasma sheet ions is due to the fact that terrestrial H(+) can have similar fluxes and energies as H(+) from the solar wind. The situation is especially ambiguous during magnetically quiet conditions (AE less than 60 gamma) when H(+) typically contributes more than 90 percent of the plasma sheet ion population. In this study that problem is examined using a large data set obtained by the ISEE-1 Plasma Composition Experiment. The data suggest that one component of the H(+) increases in energy with increasing activity, roughly in proportion to 1/4 the energy of the He(++), whereas the other H(+) component has about the same energy at all activity levels, as do the O(+) and the He(+). If it is assumed that the H(+) of solar wind origin on the average has about the same energy-per-nucleon as the He(++), which is presumably almost entirely from the solar wind, then the data imply that as much as 20-30 percent of the H(+) can be of terrestrial origin even during quiet conditions.

• Research Organization: Lockheed Research Labs., Palo Alto, CA
• OSTI ID: 5797535
• Report Number(s): CONF-8406167-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Adv. Space Res.; (United States) Journal Volume: 5:4
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640203* -- Atmospheric Physics-- Magnetospheric Phenomena-- (-1987)
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
CHARGED PARTICLES
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
EARTH MAGNETOSPHERE
HYDROGEN IONS
INTERACTIONS
ION DENSITY
IONIC COMPOSITION
IONS
PLASMA SHEET
SOLAR ACTIVITY
SOLAR WIND