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Magnetospheric-ionospheric Poynting fluxOver the past three years of funding SRI, in collaboration with the University of Texas at Dallas, has been involved in determining the total electromagnetic energy flux into the upper atmosphere from DE-B electric and magnetic field measurements and modeling the electromagnetic energy flux at high latitudes, taking into account the coupled magnetosphere-ionosphere system. This effort has been very successful in establishing the DC Poynting flux as a fundamental quantity in describing the coupling of electromagnetic energy between the magnetosphere and ionosphere. The DE-B satellite electric and magnetic field measurements were carefully scrutinized to provide, for the first time, a large data set of DC, field-aligned, Poynting flux measurement. Investigations describing the field-aligned Poynting flux observations from DE-B orbits under specific geomagnetic conditions and from many orbits were conducted to provide a statistical average of the Poynting flux distribution over the polar cap. The theoretical modeling effort has provided insight into the observations by formulating the connection between Poynting's theorem and the electromagnetic energy conversion processes that occur in the ionosphere. Modeling and evaluation of these processes has helped interpret the satellite observations of the DC Poynting flux and improved our understanding of the coupling between the ionosphere and magnetosphere.
Document ID
19950005388
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Contractor Report (CR)
Authors
Thayer, Jeffrey P.
(SRI International Corp. Menlo Park, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
September 6, 2013
Publication Date
August 1, 1994
Subject Category
Geophysics
Report/Patent Number
NAS 1.26:196856
NASA-CR-196856
Report Number: NAS 1.26:196856
Report Number: NASA-CR-196856
Accession Number
95N11801
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS5-31214
PROJECT: SRI PROJ. 2432
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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