Energy Budget of Alfven Wave Interactions with the Auroral Acceleration Region

Details Energy Budget of Alfven Wave Interactions with the Auroral Acceleration Region Energy Budget of Alfven Wave Interactions with the Auroral Acceleration Region

Dec 2003

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003agufmsm41b0572p&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2003, abstract #SM41B-0572

Physics

2704 Auroral Phenomena (2407), 2736 Magnetosphere/Ionosphere Interactions, 2752 Mhd Waves And Instabilities

Scientific paper

Recent Polar satellite observations of intense Alfven ULF bursts over auroral arcs prompted researchers to suggest that ULF wave activity does provide energy to the auroral arc intensification. However, to provide physical grounds for this suggestion, it is important to know possible bounds on the rate of the ULF wave energy transfer into electron acceleration. To estimate the power dissipated in the ionosphere and that transferred into electron acceleration, we consider the interaction of magnetospheric Alfven waves with the auroral ionosphere, comprising the auroral acceleration region (AAR). The AAR is characterized by a mirror resistance to the field-aligned upward current that can provide the potential drop and the acceleration of electrons. Analytical treatment of the interaction of Alfven waves with the combined magnetosphere-AAR-topside ionosphere-E-layer system has been made within the "thin" AAR approximation, which is valid for small-scale disturbances. The input of Alfven waves into the energy balance of the AAR depends critically on their transverse scale. Only waves with scales comparable to the Alfven transit scale, that is kperpendicular to λ A ˜= 1, will provide energy into electron acceleration. This process is expected to be more effective above a conductive ionosphere. These theoretical predictions could be verified with the multi-satellite measurements in the Cluster-2 mission.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Energy Budget of Alfven Wave Interactions with the Auroral Acceleration Region does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Energy Budget of Alfven Wave Interactions with the Auroral Acceleration Region, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Energy Budget of Alfven Wave Interactions with the Auroral Acceleration Region will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1649716