Dynamics explorer data analysis. Semiannual Report, 15 May 1987-15 May 1988

Technical Report · Fri Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1988

OSTI ID:7088167

Reiff, P H

The project has shown unambiguously that auroral acceleration is caused by electric fields aligned parallel to the Earth's magnetic field. Evidence was shown of significant ion heating as ions are accelerated upwards in auroral electric fields. This heating is most likely caused by the two-stream instability. The fate of upward ion beams associated with auroral arcs is shown; they appear in the opposite hemisphere as dispersive ion precipitation events. Magnetic merging of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field occurs with both closed dayside magnetospheric field lines and open tail lobe field lines simultaneously nearly 30 percent of the time. The sunward flow in the dawnside plasma sheet is 20 percent smaller, on average, than in the duskside. The convection throat is displaced slightly more toward dawn for B sub y greater than 0 than for B sub y less than 0.

• Research Organization: Rice Univ., Houston, TX (USA)
• OSTI ID: 7088167
• Report Number(s): N-88-25996; NASA-CR-181428; NAS-1.26:181428
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640201* -- Atmospheric Physics-- Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magetospheric Phenomena
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
AURORAE
BEAMS
CONVECTION
DATA
DATA PROCESSING
DOCUMENT TYPES
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
EARTH MAGNETOSPHERE
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ENERGY TRANSFER
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
GEOMAGNETIC FIELD
HEAT TRANSFER
HEATING
INFORMATION
INSTABILITY
INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELDS
ION BEAMS
IONOSPHERE
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MASS TRANSFER
NUMERICAL DATA
PLANETARY IONOSPHERES
PLASMA INSTABILITY
PLASMA MICROINSTABILITIES
PLASMA SHEATH
PROCESSING
PROGRESS REPORT
TWO-STREAM INSTABILITY