Plasmaspheric Density Structures and Dynamics: Properties Observed by the CLUSTER and IMAGE Missions

Plasmaspheric density structures have been studied since the discovery of the plasmasphere in the late 1950s. But the advent of the Cluster and Image missions in 2000 has added substantially to our knowledge of density structures, thanks to the new capabilities of those missions: global imaging with Image and four-point in situ measurements with Cluster. The study of plasma sources and losses has given new results on refilling rates and erosion processes. Two-dimensional density images of the plasmasphere have been obtained. The spatial gradient of plasmaspheric density has been computed. The ratios between H⁺, He⁺ and O⁺ have been deduced from different ion measurements. Plasmaspheric plumes have been studied in detail with new tools, which provide information on their morphology, dynamics and occurrence. Density structures at smaller scales have been revealed with those missions, structures that could not be clearly distinguished before the global images from Image and the four-point measurements by Cluster became available. New terms have been given to these structures, like “shoulders”, “channels”, “fingers” and “crenulations”. This paper reviews the most relevant new results about the plasmaspheric plasma obtained since the start of the Cluster and Image missions.     

CLUSTER and IMAGE: New Ways to Study the Earth’s Plasmasphere

Ground-based instruments and a number of space missions have contributed to our knowledge of the plasmasphere since its discovery half a century ago, but it is fair to say that many questions have remained unanswered. Recently, NASA’s Image and ESA’s Cluster probes have introduced new observational concepts, thereby providing a non-local view of the plasmasphere. Image carried an extreme ultraviolet imager producing global pictures of the plasmasphere. Its instrumentation also included a radio sounder for remotely sensing the spacecraft environment. The Cluster mission provides observations at four nearby points as the four-spacecraft configuration crosses the outer plasmasphere on every perigee pass, thereby giving an idea of field and plasma gradients and of electric current density. This paper starts with a historical overview of classical single-spacecraft data interpretation, discusses the non-local nature of the Image and Cluster measurements, and emphasizes the importance of the new data interpretation tools that have been developed to extract non-local information from these observations. The paper reviews these innovative techniques and highlights some of them to give an idea of the flavor of these methods. In doing so, it is shown how the non-local perspective opens new avenues for plasmaspheric research.     

PAMELA observational capabilities of Jovian electrons

PAMELA is a satellite-borne experiment that has been launched on June 15th, 2006. It is designed to make long duration measurements of cosmic radiation over an extended energy range. Specifically, PAMELA is able to measure the cosmic ray antiproton and positron spectra over the largest energy range ever achieved and will search for antinuclei with unprecedented sensitivity. Furthermore, it will measure the light nuclear component of cosmic rays and investigate phenomena connected with solar and earth physics. The apparatus consists of: a time of flight system, a magnetic spectrometer, an electromagnetic imaging calorimeter, a shower tail catcher scintillator, a neutron detector and an anticoincidence system. In this work a study of the PAMELA capabilities to detect electrons is presented. The Jovian magnetosphere is a powerful accelerator of electrons up to several tens of MeV as observed at first by Pioneer 10 spacecraft (1973). The propagation of Jovian electrons to Earth is affected by modulation due to Corotating Interaction Regions (CIR). Their flux at Earth is, moreover, modulated because every 13 months Earth and Jupiter are aligned along the average direction of the Parker spiral of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field.PAMELA will be able to measure the high energy tail of the Jovian electrons in the energy range from 50 up to 130 MeV. Moreover, it will be possible to extract the Jovian component reaccelerated at the solar wind termination shock (above 130 MeV up to 2 GeV) from the galactic flux.     

A Three-Dimensional Simulation of Collisional-Interchange-Instability in the Equatorial-Low-Latitude Ionosphere

We present a three-dimensional simulation of collisional-interchange-instability in the equatorial-low-latitude F region of ionosphere. The instability is responsible for the generation of large plasma density depletion or bubble. General 3D potential and continuity equations are derived to simulate the phenomena. To understand the linear aspect of the instability, the general 3D linear growth rate is derived using 3D potential equation. The linear growth characteristics are compared with earlier field-aligned-integrated growth analyses. The numerical simulation of bubble in the 3D spherical polar geometry is finally presented. Distinct evolution characteristics of bubble in 3D and 2D simulation are further discussed.     

BCu93P丝状钎料的断裂分析

针对BCu39P钎料丝材在热挤压过程中易产生断裂，质量不稳定等缺陷，用金相法和扫描电镜（SEM），分析和研究了该钎料丝材的内部组织分布和断口形貌，找出了引起钎料断裂的原因，并提出了解决措施和钎料内部组织分布的理想模型。     

从自由试验提取边界具有弹性支承的约束结构模态

作者曾对“从自由试验提取约束结构模态”所提出的动柔度法，仅适用于刚性支承情况。在工程中，弹性支承状态是常见的，为此，本文重新建立了这一情况下，约束结构试验模态的提取方法。该方法具有普遍性，因为当支承刚度很大时，由本文方法可得到刚性支承下的结果；当支承刚度很小时，便可获得工程中用橡皮绳悬吊结构后所测得的自由－自由试验模态；当支承刚度为零时，本方法可提取到纯粹的自由－自由模态。总之，当支承刚度为任何值时，本方法都能提取到相应约束结构的满意试验模态参数。这些表明本文算法是非常的稳定，这一点对于工程应用是至关重要的。     

关于切顶线三角形有向面积的定值定理及其应用

本文给出切顶线三角形（有向）面积的一些定值定理，并据此推出切顶线共点（其中包括射影几何中著名的Brianchon定理在圆外切三角形中的情形）的结论。