The Electron Pressure Profile and its Implications for the Size and Location of the Ambipolar Electric Field Near the Separator on May 29, 1996

Details The Electron Pressure Profile and its Implications for the Size and Location of the Ambipolar Electric Field Near the Separator on May 29, 1996 The Electron Pressure Profile and its Implications for the Size and Location of the Ambipolar Electric Field Near the Separator on May 29, 1996

May 2001

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001agusm..sm52e02s&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2001, abstract #SM52E-02

Physics

2700 Magnetospheric Physics, 2724 Magnetopause, Cusp, And Boundary Layers

Scientific paper

For the May 29, 1996 separator crossing by ISTP GGS POLAR we have determined (in the gyrotropic approximation) the spatial distribution of the electron pressure tensor, Pe(x,z) in the vicinity of the separator. This result allows the inference of the size, orientation and spatial distribution of the ambipolar electric field vector, $Eambi(x,z)= -{{∇ ṡ Pe(x,z)}/{en_e}} The ambipolar electric field can be expected to be the leading order source of parallel electric fields in the vicinity of the separator. The perpendicular part of Eambi will cause the electron fluid to implement a pressure gradient (divergence!) drift across the magnetic field that could be the cause of discrepancies between the E \times B drift velocities and the perpendicular bulk velocities we have dectected in the vicinity of the separator. The ambipolar electric field is related to the partial derivatives of the electron pressure. Near the maximicrons of the pressure ridge (over the separator where the magnetic field strength is weakest)it is clear that this Eambi gets weaker. The spatial domain for sizeable contributions will be where the pressure gradients are (a) substantial, and where (b) the trace of the pressure tensor is still ``sizeable''. Spatial portraits of the localization of the expected perpendicular and parallel ambipolar electric fields will be illustrated. The predicted sizes of Eallel(t)$ and the expected sizes and senses of the pressure divergence drifts along Polar's trajectory will also be contrasted to the data at the locations where these signatures have been directly detected.

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