Some contributions to knowledge of the magnetospheric plasma by ISEE investigators

Technical Report · Fri Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1984

OSTI ID:6150403

Ogilvie, K W

The ISEE project has made substantial contributions to the knowledge of the magnetosphere during the period of the IMS, especially in the discipline of Space Plasma Physics. Results obtained during approximately the first two years of the operation of ISEE-1 and -2, and touches on relevant results of ISEE-3 are reviewed. The ability to control the separation between ISEE-1 and -2, which are in nearly identical orbits, has permitted study of the motion and structure of the bow shock and magnetopause, the boundary layers, and the plasma sheet. Much evidence was obtained favoring the existence of reconnection and its relevance to the transfer of magnetic flux from the frontside to the rear of the magnetosphere, although not everyone agrees that it is the only important process. The presence of both reflected and accelerated particles was shown to lead to the development of a foreshock region between the bow shock and the interplanetary magnetic field line tangential to it.

• Research Organization: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, MD (USA). Goddard Space Flight Center
• OSTI ID: 6150403
• Report Number(s): N-84-30962; NASA-TM-86124
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640203* -- Atmospheric Physics-- Magnetospheric Phenomena-- (-1987)
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BOUNDARY LAYERS
DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
FUNCTIONS
LAYERS
MAGNETOSPHERE
SHOCK WAVES
SPECTROSCOPY