Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 1994
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994georl..21.2987c&link_type=abstract
Geophysical Research Letters (ISSN 0094-8276), vol. 21, no. 25, p. 2987-2990
Physics
22
Electric Fields, Low Frequencies, Planetary Magnetic Fields, Plasma Waves, Satellite Observation, Space Plasmas, Spike Potentials, Direct Current, Electrical Measurement, Geophysical Satellites, Magnetic Measurement, Magnetic Storms, Time Series Analysis
Scientific paper
Electric field data from the Geotail spacecraft provide an opportunity to extend the observations of spiky fields made by International Sun Earth Explorer-1 (ISEE-1) to a region of the magnetosphere where quasistatic electric field measurements have not previously been msde, to examine their possible importance in the dynamics of the middle and distant tail, and to test some hypotheses about their formation. In this paper, examples of large fields in the plasma sheet and its boundary at radial distances up to approximately 90 R(sub E) are presented. It is shown that three different types of large electric fields can occur: (1) spiky fields; (2) 'DC' fields; and (3) waves at frequencies comparable to the lower hybrid frequency. There is usually a gradation between (1) and (3), and often large electric field spikes are embedded in regions of lower amplitude waves. The waves tend to occur in short (few to 10's of seconds) packets whose start and stop times are not always correlated with changes in the magnetic field and/or density (as indicated by the spacecraft potential). The peak frequency is often less than but comparable to the lower hybrid frequency in agreement with theories of lower hybrid drift waves in the magnetotail. The largest spikes are not always associated with the largest changes in the spacecraft potential and/or magnetic field. It is suggested that the spiky fields may represent the nonlinear development of the waves.
Cattell Cynthia
Hayakawa Hisao
Kokubun Susumu
Mozer F.
Nakamura Maho
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