Physics
Scientific paper
May 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006agusmsa31c..01h&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2007, abstract #SA31C-01
Physics
9800 General Or Miscellaneous
Scientific paper
The Ionosphere of the Earth is embedded in the neutral upper atmosphere and electrically connected by the magnetic field to the magnetosheath, and the inner and outer magnetosphere. This produces a highly dynamic environment that is influenced by internally and externally generated electric fields and by neutral winds. The ionospheric number density temperature and composition exhibit a wide range of variations with different spatial and temporal scales and understanding these variations undoubtedly requires consideration of the plasma dynamics. At low latitudes, neutral winds move the plasma parallel to the magnetic field and internally generate electric fields that move the plasma perpendicular to B. The plasma superotates at low latitudes and the drifts have longitude variations produced by the wind drivers and the offset between the geomagnetic and geographic equators. These motions also produce latitude asymmetries in the plasma density, composition, and temperature. At high latitudes the plasma motion is dominated by externally applied electric fields that are modified by ionosphere magnetosphere coupling. In this case the plasma density distribution will dominated by the plasma motion resulting from a combination of the external electric field and corotation. The region at middle latitudes has many of the properties of its neighbors at high and low latitudes with magnetic activity controlling those properties that are dominant. Here the plasma may subrotate and the neutral winds may significantly affect the composition and number density of the plasma. A discussion of some of the interesting features of the ionosphere will illustrate how the coupling between the ionosphere, the upper atmosphere and the magnetosphere is essential to their understanding and also reveal where remaining gaps in our understanding need to be filled.
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