Thermal ion observations of depletion and refilling in the plasmaspheric trough

Details Thermal ion observations of depletion and refilling in the plasmaspheric trough Thermal ion observations of depletion and refilling in the plasmaspheric trough

Feb 1992

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1992jgr....97.1081w&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol. 97, Feb. 1, 1992, p. 1081-1096.

Physics

23

Ionospheric Ion Density, Plasmasphere, Thermal Plasmas, Exos Satellites, Mass Spectrometers, Space Plasmas

Scientific paper

Temperatures, densities, composition, and drift velocities of the local major thermal ion population during a 22-d period in February 1990 are estimated on the basis of thermal ion observations in the altitude range 5000-10,000 km and at invariant latitudes greater than about 60 deg. Equatorward of a high-latitude boundary, higher-density cold ions are found to corotate with the earth, and field-aligned drift velocities are low (less than 1 km/s). These observations are consistent with a plasmaspheric origin for these ions, but the densities measured near the boundary suggest that this boundary lies in or near the trough region. Poleward of this boundary, convection patterns deviate from corotation, and large upward directed field-aligned flows of ionospheric plasma, consistent with a 'polar-windlike' source mechanism, are detected. The implications of these results with regard to ionospheric plasma dynamics associated with the depletion and replenishment of high-latitude flux tubes are discussed.

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