Experimental study of plasma dynamics in the auroral ionosphere

Thesis/Dissertation · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1983

OSTI ID:6351324

Bush, R I

In March 1979, the third and fourth Porcupine sounding rockets were launched into auroral arcs from a launch site in northern Sweden. At the beginning of each flight two instrumented subpayloads, a xenon ion source, and a barium shaped charge were ejected from the main payload. This thesis covers measurements returned by the instrumented subpayloads of the electric fields, magnetic fields, plasma waves, and particle fluxes in the auroral arcs and during the operation of the xenon ion source. During the fourth flight, the subpayloads flew through the northern edge of an intense auroral arc. Two abrupt decreases in the precipitating electron energy and number flux were observed, and the precipitation boundaries were correlated with 20 to 60 mV/m increases in the ionospheric electric field and 0.1 to 0.2 A/m upward field aligned currents. The divergence of the electric field was calculated using simultaneous measurements by the two subpayloads and showed the expected build up of polarization charge at the precipitation boundaries. The direction and magnitude of the field aligned currents accompanying the electric field increases indicated that the magnetosphere was the source of the electric field perturbations and that the ionosphere was acting as a resistive load. Downward field aligned currents were observed adjacent to the regions of electron precipitation and may have been carried by ionospheric electrons moving up the magnetic field lines. These upward moving electrons may have drifted into the precipitation boundary and could have supplied the current necessary to maintain the observed electric field gradient.

• Research Organization: California Univ., Berkeley (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6351324
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640201* -- Atmospheric Physics-- Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magetospheric Phenomena
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
AURORAE
CHARGED-PARTICLE PRECIPITATION
DATA
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELECTRON PRECIPITATION
ENERGY
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
INFORMATION
ION SOURCES
IONOSPHERE
NUMERICAL DATA
PLANETARY IONOSPHERES
PLASMA WAVES
RADIATION FLUX
ROCKETS