Interaction of upgoing auroral H(+) and O(+) beams

Data from the S3-3 and DE 1 satellites are analyzed to study the interaction between H(+) and O(+) ions in upgoing auroral beams. Every data set analyzed showed some evidence of an interaction. The measured plasma was found to be unstable to a low-frequency electrostatic wave that propagates at an oblique angle to vector-B(0). A second wave, which can propagate parallel to vector-B(0), is weakly damped in the plasma studied in most detail. It is likely that the upgoing ion beams generate this parallel wave at lower altitudes. The resulting wave-particle interactions qualitatively can explain most of the features observed in ion distribution functions.