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Electric currents and voltage drops along auroral field linesAn assessment is presented of the current state of knowledge concerning Birkeland currents and the parallel electric field, with discussions focusing on the Birkeland primary region 1 sheets, the region 2 sheets which parallel them and appear to close in the partial ring current, the cusp currents (which may be correlated with the interplanetary B(y) component), and the Harang filament. The energy required by the parallel electric field and the associated particle acceleration processes appears to be derived from the Birkeland currents, for which evidence is adduced from particles, inverted V spectra, rising ion beams and expanded loss cones. Conics may on the other hand signify acceleration by electrostatic ion cyclotron waves associated with beams accelerated by the parallel electric field.
Document ID
19830046182
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Stern, D. P.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Planetary Magnetospheres Branch, Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 11, 2013
Publication Date
March 1, 1983
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
83A27400
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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