Polar Cap Plasma and Convection

This presentation will describe the character of the polar cap plasma in 10% AGU Spring 1998 particular the convection velocities at the perigee (about 1.8 Re) and apogee( about 8.9 Re) of Polar in relationship to Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) and solar wind parameters. This plasma is thought to be due to several sources; the polar wind, cleft ion fountain, and auroral outflow. The plasma in the polar cap tends to be mostly field-aligned. At any given point in the polar cap, this plasma could be from a different regions since convection of magnetic field lines can transport this material. it is quite difficult to study such a phenomena with single point measurements. Current knowledge of the polar cap plasma obtained by in situ measurements will be presented along with recent results from the Polar mission. This study also examines the direct electrical coupling between the magnetosphere and ionosphere by comparing convection velocities measured by the Thermal Ion Dynamics Experiment (TIDE) and Magnetic Field Experiment (MFE) instruments in magnetosphere and measurements of the ionosphere by ground-based radars. At times such a comparison is difficult because the Polar satellite at apogee spends a large amount of time in the polar cap which is a region that is not coverage well by the current SuperDam coherent radars. This is impart due to the lack of irregularities that returns the radar signal.