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Bands of ions and angular V's - A conjugate manifestation of ionospheric ion accelerationData from the hot plasma instruments on Dynamics Explorer 1 and 2 spacecraft have been used to study the injection, drift, and subsequent precipitation of suprathermal positive ions in the auroral zone. The observation at both high and low altitudes of electron inverted 'V' events in the boundary plasma sheet (BPS) and of ion 'bands' (energy decreasing with decreasing latitude) in the adjacent central plasma sheet (CPS) leads to the following ion injection model: upward-moving energetic ion beams are injected onto BPS magnetic field lines by the electrostatic potential drops associated with electron inverted V's. As the ion beams move toward the equator and into the conjugate hemisphere they are convected to lower latitudes and into the CPS. The energy-latitude dependence of the ion bands, coupled with concurrent ion convection measurements, indicate that the ion distributions are primarily O(+), in agreement with their postulated ionospheric source.
Document ID
19840043390
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Winningham, J. D.
(Southwest Research Inst. San Antonio, TX, United States)
Burch, J. L.
(Southwest Research Institute San Antonio, TX, United States)
Frahm, R. A.
(Rice University Houston, TX, United States)
Date Acquired
August 12, 2013
Publication Date
March 1, 1984
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volume: 89
ISSN: 0148-0227
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
84A26177
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NGR-44-006-137
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG5-302
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS5-26363
CONTRACT_GRANT: F7121-83-N-0001
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS5-25693
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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