Physics
Scientific paper
Jul 1989
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1989georl..16..743c&link_type=abstract
Geophysical Research Letters (ISSN 0094-8276), vol. 16, July 1989, p. 743-746. Research supported by the Lockheed Independent Re
Physics
14
Auroral Arcs, Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling, Particle Acceleration, Polar Caps, Atmospheric Electricity, Convective Flow, Electron Acceleration, Ionospheric Disturbances, Mesoscale Phenomena
Scientific paper
It is shown that polar cap arcs of typical electron energy not greater than 1 keV can be produced by the downward acceleration of polar rain electrons by parallel potential drops on open field lines. The formation of these arcs is the result of current response to mesoscale velocity shear structures in the ionospheric convection that is not matched at the magnetosphere. The theory predicts the formation of a pair of mesoscale field-aligned currents (one upward and one downward) for each ionospheric shear structure. The theory does not require a bifurcated magnetic configuration for each polar cap arc; hence, it can account for the frequently encountered multiple polar cap arcs without cutting up the magnetosphere into a large number of open and closed magnetic field regions.
No associations
LandOfFree
Formation of polar cap arcs does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Formation of polar cap arcs, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Formation of polar cap arcs will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1704848