Kinetic model of auroral plasma formation II: simultaneous multi-satellite ion observations and interpretations. Technical report

Technical Report · Tue Sep 30 00:00:00 EDT 1986

OSTI ID:6710740

Chiu, Y T; Lennartsson, O W; Korth, A; Kremser, G; Fennell, J F

A detailed analysis of ion composition and distribution observed simultaneously by GEOS 2, SCATHA, and ISEE 1 satellites at the initial phases of an injection event in the inner magnetosphere was made. The mean convection electric field observed by GEOS 2 during the data interval was used to determine the space-time variation of a global time-dependent convection electric-field model, which is approximately verified in this report by ISEE 1 plasma flow measurements and by the unusual SCATHA observation of low-energy ions convected from the plalsmasphere cloak region. Theoretical tracing of ion trajectories with the tested electric-field model indicates that multi-satellite observations of keV ion dispersion can be interpreted in terms of a collision/mixing between an injected auroral ion population rich in oxygen with a preinjection population rich in hydrogen and doubly-ionized helium which had previously moved inward from ISEE 1 orbit. The results of this collision/mixing was that ion dispersion signatures afterwards appeared as if they were from a single population, having lost memory of their previous convection history. This is a possible formulation mechanism of the ad hoc injection boundary which is marked only by plasma dispersion signature and not by any other magnetospheric feature.

• Research Organization: Aerospace Corp., El Segundo, CA (USA). Space Sciences Lab.
• OSTI ID: 6710740
• Report Number(s): AD-A-175756/6/XAB; TR-0086(6940-05)-4
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
AURORAE
PLASMA DRIFT
EARTH MAGNETOSPHERE
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
COLLISIONS
CONVECTION
ELECTRIC FIELDS
HYDROGEN
INJECTION
IONS
KINETICS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MIXING
OXYGEN
TRAJECTORIES
CHARGED PARTICLES
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
ELEMENTS
ENERGY TRANSFER
HEAT TRANSFER
INTAKE
MASS TRANSFER
NONMETALS
640201* - Atmospheric Physics- Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magetospheric Phenomena