Latitudinal plasma distribution in the dusk plasmaspheric bulge - Refilling phase and quasi-equilibrium state

Very low-energy trapped ions, mostly protons, have been observed in a region of moderate density characteristic of the plasmapause boundary and of the plasmaspheric bulge. The present paper is concerned with an examination of the latitudinal structure of the bulge under quasi-steady conditions and the conditions of the recovery phase. Details regarding the data base are considered along with observations of the morphology and dynamics of the bulge, the latitudinal density distribution in the expanded bulge, the convection scenario during the replenishment phase, and latitudinal effects on plasma characteristics during plasmasphere refilling. The data utilized have been mainly provided by the DE 1 and GEOS 2 spacecraft traveling in two perpendicular planes. It is found that the bulge is a dynamic region, where no reasonable interpretation of the observed density distribution can be achieved without taking into account the mechanism of magnetospheric convection.