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Case Study of Solar Wind and IMF Influence on Ionospheric OutflowWe examine ionospheric outflows in the high attitude magnetospheric polar cap during the POLAR satellite's apogee on 04/19/96 using the TIDE instrument. The pass has a fairly constant flux of H+ which is similar to many other passes, but there is a large amount of O+ present. The elevated levels of O+ may be due both to the geophysical conditions during the apogee pass (Kp=5) and prior to the pass. When the outflows for many high altitude polar cap passes are analyzed the O+ density correlates well with the dynamic pressure. There are several aspects of this pass which are interesting besides the abundance of O+ relative to H+. In this pass both the H+ and O+ outflow velocity correlate with both the solar wind speed and Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) Bx. The geophysical conditions are such that the solar wind speed and IMF Bx are highly correlated with each other. For this case the dynamic pressure of the solar wind is fairly constant and has an average value of about 2.5 nPa which is typical for the solar wind, but the average solar wind speed is about 695 km/s which is greater than 450 km/s which is typical for the solar wind at I AU. The ion outflow measurements themselves are interrelated. The H+ density and parallel speed are anticorrelated which results in the constant flux. The 0+ density does not have as large of a anticorrelation with its parallel speed as H+ does with its parallel speed.
Document ID
20000109855
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Elliott, H. A.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Comfort, R. H.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Craven, P. D.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Chandler, M. O.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Moore, T. E.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Rose, M. Franklin
Date Acquired
August 19, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2000
Subject Category
Geophysics
Meeting Information
Meeting: Huntsville 2000 Workshop
Location: Calloway Gardens, GA
Country: United States
Start Date: October 30, 2000
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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