Dynamics of Temperature and Density of Cold Protons of the Earth's Plasmasphere Measured by the Auroral Probe/Alpha-3 Experiment Data during Geomagnetic Disturbances

We present the results of temperature and density measurement of plasmaspheric protons under quiet and disturbed conditions in the night and dayside sectors of the plasmasphere obtained with the Auroral Probe/Alpha-3 instrument during September 1996 and January 1997. According to the experimental data, the proton temperature in the night sector of the plasmasphere depends on the level of geomagnetic disturbance: it is found that at night hours the values of temperatures inside the plasmasphere at 2.4 < L < 3.5 decreased considerably after the commencement of a geomagnetic storm. The temperature decrease, as a rule, was accompanied by the formation of a flat plateau on the density distribution n(L) at 2.4 < L < 3.5. The above experimental facts (decreasing proton temperature and formation of a flat part on the n(L) distribution) allow us to conclude that the decrease in the proton temperature in the night sector of the plasmasphere connected with magnetic disturbances is caused by the filling of field tubes (depleted after the commencement of the storm) with colder ionospheric plasma. The proton temperature in the dayside sector of the plasmasphere virtually does not depend on the level of the geomagnetic disturbance.