Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011agufmsm11b2020l&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2011, abstract #SM11B-2020
Physics
[2736] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetosphere/Ionosphere Interactions, [2740] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetospheric Configuration And Dynamics, [2748] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetotail Boundary Layers, [2760] Magnetospheric Physics / Plasma Convection
Scientific paper
The plasmasheet boundary layer (PSBL) has been found to be a region of intense mass, energy, and momentum transfer. Clear entry of streaming O+ from the lobe into the PSBL is often observed in the ~20 Re magnetotail, and the energy of the O+ gradually increases as it enters. In our previous study, by testing for the invariance of the phase space density, we showed that while the high velocity of the O+ observed in the tail lobes is mostly due to the velocity filter effect, the energetic O+ beams observed within the PSBL actually have been accelerated. The energy increase is up to several keV. How these ions inside the PSBL are accelerated is an interesting question. Observations show that the electric field is much stronger in the PSBL than in the lobes. As a result, streaming O+ will experience a strong EXB drift that can increase the velocity of O+. A close look at the distribution function shows that streaming O+ experiences some kind of acceleration/heating inside the PSBL as well as the strong EXB effect. Many energization mechanisms have been proposed, including electrostatic and electromagnetic wave heating and acceleration parallel to the electric field due to non-adiabatic motion. In order to determine the energization mechanism that is responsible for heating the streaming O+ inside the PSBL, we use several case studies to determine how the distribution function changes as the O+ enters the PSBL, and how the changes correlate with the electric field and with wave activity. Invariants and features of the streaming O+ energization in the PSBL are presented and possible energization mechanisms are discussed.
Cully C. M.
Dunlop Malcolm W.
Kistler Lynn M.
Liao Jinfeng
Mouikis Christopher
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