Fine structure of low-energy H(+) in the nightside auroral region

Details Fine structure of low-energy H(+) in the nightside auroral region Fine structure of low-energy H(+) in the nightside auroral region

Mar 1994

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994jgr....99.4131l&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol. 99, no. A3, p. 4131-4141

Physics

5

Auroras, Fine Structure, Night, Plasma Heating, Dynamics Explorer 1 Satellite, Hydrogen, Mass Spectrometers

Scientific paper

Low-energy H(+) data with 6-s resolution from the retarding ion mass spectrometer instrument on Dynamics Explorer (DE) 1 have been analyzed to reveal the fine structure at middle altitudes of the nightside auroral region. A new method for deconvolving the energy-integrated count rate in the spin plane of the satellite has been used to derive the two-dimensional phase space density. A detailed analysis reveals an alternating conic-beam-conic pattern with the observed conics correlated with large earthward currents in the auroral region. The strong downward current (larger than 1 microamperes per sq m (equivalent value at ionosphere)) provides a free energy source for the perpendicular ion heating, that generates the ion conics with energies from several eV to tens of eV. The bowl shape distribution of the low-energy H(+) is caused by the extended perpendicular heating. The strong correlation between conics and large downward currents suggests that the current-driven electrostatic ion cyclotron wave is an appropriate candidate for the transverse heating mechanism.

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