Physics
Scientific paper
Apr 1987
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1987georl..14..447s&link_type=abstract
Geophysical Research Letters (ISSN 0094-8276), vol. 14, April 1987, p. 447-450. Research supported by the Swedish Board for Spac
Physics
7
Auroral Zones, Electron Energy, Energy Spectra, Distribution Functions, Kilometric Waves, Spectrograms
Scientific paper
Electron and ion data from the particle experiment onboard the Viking spacecraft are examined in order to determine the origin of the power-law component in auroral electron spectra. It is observed that at altitudes of about 1 Re electron spectra peaked at a few keV are accompanied by a power law population in the energy range 10-1000 eV that is usually thought to be composed of degraded primaries and secondary electrons of ionospheric origin. However, the presence of an ion beam at an energy of 1 keV flowing out of the ionosphere indicates the existence of a potential barrier between the location of the satellite and the ionosphere which would prevent secondary electrons of ionospheric origin from reaching the satellite altitude. The spectral index of the distribution function for the power-law electrons supports earlier theoretical findings that this power law population is formed in the auroral acceleration region by a combined action of a parallel electric field and wave-particle interactions.
Hultqvist Bengt
Lundin Richard
Stasiewicz Krzysztof
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