Physics – Plasma Physics
Scientific paper
Jun 2004
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004jgra..10906211w&link_type=abstract
Journal of Geophysical Research, Volume 109, Issue A6, CiteID A06211
Physics
Plasma Physics
19
Magnetospheric Physics: Auroral Phenomena (2407), Magnetospheric Physics: Energetic Particles, Precipitating, Magnetospheric Physics: Magnetosphere/Ionosphere Interactions, Space Plasma Physics: Kinetic And Mhd Theory, Space Plasma Physics: Nonlinear Phenomena
Scientific paper
In a recent work [Wu, 2003a, 2003b], a dissipative nonlinear inertial Alfvén wave (DNIAW) were proposed as the physical explanation for the formation of the strong electric spikes often observed in the auroral ionosphere and the magnetosphere. DNIAW can also lead to the field_aligned electron acceleration. In the present paper, dynamical characteristics of DNIAW acceleration are discussed and its possible role in auroral electron acceleration is further investigated. The effective acceleration region for auroral electrons with energies of the order of keV produced by DNIAW acceleration is between 0.5 and 2.5 RE above the ionosphere, and the most efficient acceleration occurs around 0.8 RE where both the Alfvén velocity and the produced auroral electron energy peak, and the peak energy is around 10 keV. We suggest that this could explain the precipitous decrease of the auroral electron energy spectrum toward energies above 10 keV, which can be inferred from measurements of energy distribution of precipitating auroral electrons. Typical widths of auroral arcs caused by the DNIAW acceleration are in scales of the order of 1 km.
Chao Jerry K.
Wu Dei-Jin
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