A statistical comparison of the outflow of N+2, NO+ and O+2 molecular ions with that of atomic O+ ions using Polar/TIMAS observations

Details A statistical comparison of the outflow of N+2, NO+ and O+2 molecular ions with that of atomic O+ ions using Polar/TIMAS observations A statistical comparison of the outflow of N+2, NO+ and O+2 molecular ions with that of atomic O+ ions using Polar/TIMAS observations

Apr 2000

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2000jastp..62..477l&link_type=abstract

Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, Volume 62, Issue 6, p. 477-483.

Physics

2

Scientific paper

Ion composition data from the first 22 months of operation (until the end of 1997) of the Polar/TIMAS instrument, covering the 15-eV/e to 33-keV/e energy range, have been surveyed to determine the typical abundance of N+2, NO+ and O+2 ions as a group (/M/Q~30) in the auroral ion outflow, as compared to that of the better known O+ ions. The results, obtained at and near solar minimum, indicate that molecular ions have roughly the same energy distribution as the O+ ions, with maximum differential flux occurring below 400 eV, but are far less abundant, by two orders of magnitude on average. The molecular ions also differ from the O+ ions in that they seem more specifically associated with enhanced geomagnetic activity, possibly with some electrodynamic threshold being surpassed in the ionosphere. The most intense fluxes of molecular ions, 105-106 (cm2 s ster keV/e)-1, are usually encountered near the Polar perigee in the southern auroral zone (at R ~ 2RE), but the longer lasting encounters, 30 min or more, are closer to the Polar apogee in the northern hemisphere, often well inside the polar cap (at R ~ 4-9 RE). The molecular ions are observed at varying local time but too infrequently to yield a significant measure of local time distribution.

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