Physics
Scientific paper
Jul 1992
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1992cajph..70..500y&link_type=abstract
Canadian Journal of Physics (ISSN 0008-4204), vol. 70, no. 7, p. 500-509.
Physics
2
Auroras, Ionospheric Composition, Magnetic Storms, Abundance, Earth Magnetosphere, Exos-D Satellite, Ionospheric Ion Density, Magnetospheric Ion Density, Mass Spectroscopy
Scientific paper
Ion-composition measurements from the suprathermal mass spectrometer (SMS) on AKEBONO (EXOS-D) during large magnetic storms (minimum D(st) less than -50 nT) reveal substantial changes in the mass composition of the auroral ionosphere. At quiet times, H(+) and 0(+) ions dominate the high-altitude polar ionosphere, and the minor-ion species He(+), N(+), and O(2+) typically constitute about 10 percent of the total ion population. During magnetic storms, the relative abundance of minor ions increases substantially, and N(+)) becomes a significant, at times dominant, component. During the main phase of large storms, the N(+)/O(+) ratio reaches peak values of unity in the dayside. Likewise, the peak O(2+)/O(+) ratio reaches 0.4-0.5 at storm time. The observed ions typically have energies of 5-20 eV/q, and are moving upward along the field line. They are believed to originate from the topside ionosphere. The increased abundance of N+ ions during large magnetic storms is believed to be a direct result of the increase in molecular nitrogen density in the F-region and topside ionosphere, due to thermospheric heating in the presence of prolonged auroral activity. This implies that N(+) ions may possibly be the dominant plasma component in the magnetosphere during very large magnetic storms.
Whalen Brian A.
Yau Andrew W.
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