Substorms in the earth's magnetosphere

Conference · Mon Aug 06 04:00:00 EDT 1984

OSTI ID:6193223

Baker, D N

Magnetospheres are plasma regions of large scale in space dominated by magnetic field effects. The earth, and many planets in our solar system, are known to have magnetospheric regions around them. Magnetospheric substorms represent the intense, rapid dissipation of energy that has been extracted from the solar wind and stored temporarily in the terrestrial magnetotail. In this paper a widely, but not universally, accepted model of substorms is described. The energy budgets, time scales, and conversion efficiencies for substorms are presented. The primary forms of substorm energy dissipation are given along with the average levels of the dissipation. Aspects of particle acceleration and precipitation, Joule heating mechanisms, ring current formation, and plasmoid escape are illustrated based on in situ observations taken from the large available data base. A brief description is given of possible analogues of substorm-like behavior in other astrophysical systems. 27 references, 12 figures.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 6193223
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-84-3097; CONF-8408121-2; ON: DE85000654
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640203* -- Atmospheric Physics-- Magnetospheric Phenomena-- (-1987)
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ATMOSPHERES
CURRENTS
ELECTRIC CURRENTS
ELECTRIC HEATING
ENERGY LOSSES
HEATING
JOULE HEATING
LOSSES
MAGNETIC STORMS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES
PLANETARY MAGNETOSPHERES
PLASMA HEATING
RESISTANCE HEATING
RING CURRENTS