The earth's magnetosphere

A qualitative description of the general magnetospheric configuration is given, with emphasis on some of the physical processes governing the magnetosphere that are the main targets of current research. The magnetosphere behaves like a huge 'bag' of plasma and radiation that swells and contracts under the influence of the solar wind. The electric field, the magnetospheric plasma, the magnetospheric substorm, and the radiation belt and wave particle interactions are discussed. During the past 15 years, the study of the earth's magnetosphere man's immediate plasma and radiation environment - has undergone a successful stage of discovery and exploration. Investigators have obtained a morphological description of the magnetospheric field, the particle population embedded in it, and its interface with the solar wind, and have identified and are beginning to understand many of the physical processes involved. Quite generally, the magnetosphere reveals itself as a region where it is possible to observe some of the fundamental plasma processes at work that are known to occur elsewhere in the universe.