Physics – Plasma Physics
Scientific paper
Sep 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008eostr..89..379c&link_type=abstract
Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union, Volume 89, Issue 40, p. 379-379
Physics
Plasma Physics
Magnetospheric Physics: Radiation Belts, Magnetospheric Physics: Energetic Particles: Trapped, Space Plasma Physics: Particle Acceleration
Scientific paper
The excellent article by M. W. Liemohn and A. A. Chan on the radiation belts (see Eos, 88(42), 16 October 2007) is misleading in its implication that the disturbance storm-time (Dst) index is an indicator of a magnetospheric ring current. That index is formed from an average of magnetic data from three or four low-latitude stations that have been fallaciously ``adjusted'' to a magnetic equatorial location under the 1960's assumption [Sugiura, 1964] that the fields arrive from the growth and decay of a giant ring of current in the magnetosphere. In truth, the index has a negative lognormal form [Campbell, 1996; Yago and Kamide, 2003] as a result of its composition from numerous negative ionospheric and magnetospheric disturbance field sources, each having normal field amplitude distributions [Campbell, 2004]. Some partial ring currents [Lui et al., 1987] and their associated field-aligned currents, as well as major ionospheric currents flowing from the auroral zone to equatorial latitudes, are the main contributors to the Dst index. No full magnetospheric ring of currents is involved, despite its false name (``Equatorial Dst Ring Current Index'') given by the index suppliers, the Geomagnetism Laboratory at Kyoto University, Japan.
No associations
LandOfFree
Comment on ``Unraveling the Causes of Radiation Belt Enhancements'' 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 Comment on ``Unraveling the Causes of Radiation Belt Enhancements'', we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Comment on ``Unraveling the Causes of Radiation Belt Enhancements'' will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1792723