Transport of accelerated low-energy ions in the polar magnetosphereRecent satellite observations of low-energy (0-50 eV) ionospheric ions in the polar cap magnetosphere suggest that these ions are injected at the dayside cleft topside ionosphere. Using a two-dimensional kinetic model, several consequences of this ion flow from a narrow cleft source have been simulated and observed. These include: (1) the Kp/convection-dependent filling of the polar magnetosphere with ionospheric heavy ions, in which these ions are 'blown' further into the polar cap magnetosphere from the cleft during high Kp/convection; (2) the mass- and energy-dependent dispersion of these ions, as in a kind of 'geomagnetic spectrometer'; (3) the creation of 'supersonic' ion outflows as a natural velocity-filter effect of this geomagnetic spectrometer; and (4) the 'parabolic flow' of gravitationally bound heavy ions from the cleft ionosphere resulting in downward flow into the polar cap.
Document ID
19870050057
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Horwitz, J. L. (Alabama, University Huntsville, United States)
Lockwood, M. (SERC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, United Kingdom)
Waite, J. H., Jr. (Alabama Univ. Huntsville, AL, United States)
Moore, T. E. (Alabama Univ. Huntsville, AL, United States)
Chappell, C. R. (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)