Kinetic response of ionospheric ions to onset of auroral electric fields

Technical Report · Wed Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1981

OSTI ID:6511495

Chiu, Y T ^[1]; Kan, J R

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1. Aerospace Corp., El Segundo

By examining the exact analytic solution of a kinetic model of collisional interaction of ionospheric ions with atmospheric neutrals in the Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook approximation, we show that the onset of intense auroral electric fields in the topside ionosphere can produce the following kinetic effects: (1) heat the bulk ionospheric ions to approximately 2 eV, thus driving them up to higher altitudes where they can be subjected to collisionless plasma processes (2) produce a non-Maxwellian superthermal tail in the distribution function and (3) cause the ion distribution function to be anisotropic with respect to the magnetic field with the perpendicular average thermal energy exceeding the parallel thermal energy.

• Research Organization: Alaska Univ., Fairbanks (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6511495
• Report Number(s): NASA-CR-164799
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640201* -- Atmospheric Physics-- Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magetospheric Phenomena
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ANISOTROPY
AURORAE
COLLISIONLESS PLASMA
COLLISIONS
DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
ELECTRIC FIELDS
FUNCTIONS
ION COLLISIONS
IONOSPHERE
MAGNETIC FIELDS
PLANETARY IONOSPHERES
PLASMA