Physics
Scientific paper
Jun 1998
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1998georl..25.2033e&link_type=abstract
Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 25, Issue 12, p. 2033-2036
Physics
40
Magnetospheric Physics: Auroral Phenomena, Magnetospheric Physics: Current Systems, Magnetospheric Physics: Magnetosphere/Ionosphere Interactions
Scientific paper
FAST observes signatures of small-scale downward-going current at the edges of the inverted-V regions where the primary (auroral) electrons are found. In the winter pre-midnight auroral zone these downward currents are carried by upward flowing low- and medium-energy (up to several keV) electron beams. FAST instrumentation shows agreement between the current densities inferred from both the electron distributions and gradients in the magnetic field. FAST data taken near apogee (~4000-km altitude) commonly show downward current magnetic field deflections consistent with the observed upward flux of ~109electronscm-2s-1, or current densities of several μA m-2. The electron, field-aligned current and electric field signatures indicate the downward currents may be associated with ``black aurora'' and auroral ionospheric cavities. The field-aligned voltage-current relationship in the downward current region is nonlinear.
Bonnell J. W.
Carlson Carl W.
Cattell Cynthia A.
Elphic Richard C.
Ergun Robert E.
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