Energetic O+ and H+ Ions in the Plasma Sheet: Implications for the Transport of Ionospheric Ions

Details Energetic O+ and H+ Ions in the Plasma Sheet: Implications for the Transport of Ionospheric Ions Energetic O+ and H+ Ions in the Plasma Sheet: Implications for the Transport of Ionospheric Ions

Dec 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011agufmsm44a..07o&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2011, abstract #SM44A-07

Physics

[2720] Magnetospheric Physics / Energetic Particles: Trapped, [2736] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetosphere/Ionosphere Interactions, [2760] Magnetospheric Physics / Plasma Convection, [2764] Magnetospheric Physics / Plasma Sheet

Scientific paper

The present study statistically examines the characteristics of energetic ions in the plasma sheet using the Geotail/EPIC data. An emphasis is placed on the O+ ions, and the characteristics of the H+ ions are used as references. The following is a summary of the results: (1) The average O+ energy is lower during solar maximum and higher during solar minimum. A similar tendency is also found for the average H+ energy but only for geomagnetically active times; (2) The O+-to-H+ ratios of number and energy densities are several times higher during solar maximum than during solar minimum; (3) The average H+ and O+ energies and the O+-to-H+ ratios of number and energy densities all increase with geomagnetic activity. The differences among different solar phases not only persist but also increase with increasing geomagnetic activity (see Figure); (4) Whereas the average H+ energy increases toward Earth, the average O+ energy decreases toward Earth. The average energy increases toward dusk for both the H+ and O+ ions; (5) The O+-to-H+ ratios of number and energy densities increase toward Earth during all solar phases but most clearly during solar maximum. These results suggest that the solar illumination enhances the ionospheric outflow more effectively with increasing geomagnetic activity and that a significant portion of the O+ ions is transported directly from the ionosphere to the near-Earth region rather than through the distant tail.

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