The Role and Contributions of Energetic Neutral Atom (ENA) Imaging in Magnetospheric Substorm Research

Energetic Neutral Atom (ENA) imaging has contributed substantially to substorm research. This technique has allowed significant advances in areas such as observation and quantification of injected particle drift as a function of energy, observation of dynamics in the tail that are directly related to the effects of imposed (growth phase) and induced (expansion phase) electric fields on the plasma, the prompt extraction of oxygen from the ionosphere during substorms, the relationship between storms and substorms, and the timing of substorm ENA signatures. We present discussion of the advantages and shortcomings of the ENA technique for studying space plasmas. Although the technique is in its infancy, it is yielding results that enrich our understanding of the substorm process and its effects.     

Crossarray Beamforming with a Parametric Receiving Array and a Line Array

A beamforming technique involving cross correlation of the outputs of two directional arrays is investigated. The performance characteristics of the crossarray system are determined and related to the characteristics of the two individual arrays. It is found that the crossarray beam pattern is the average (in decibels) of the beam patterns of the individual arrays, and that the crossarray gain (rejection of spatially distributed noise) is 1.5 dB greater than the average (in decibels) of the individual array gains. The most interesting applications for this system may be those where the two arrays are quite different, as in the case of a parametric acoustic receiving array (PARRAY) and a broadside line array.     

Saw-tooth substorms: Inconsistency of repetitive bay-like magnetic disturbances with behavior of aurora

The relationships between the magnetic disturbance onsets, aurora dynamics and particles injections at the geostationary orbit have been analyzed in detail for 25 sawtooth substorms. It is shown that inconsistency between the above signatures of the substorms onset is typical of the powerful sawtooth substorms, unlike the isolated (“classical”) magnetospheric substorms. The distinguishing feature of the aurora in case of saw-tooth substorms is permanently high level of auroral activity irrespective of the magnetic disturbance onsets and the double oval structure of the aurora display. The close relationship between the aurora behavior and the particle injections at geostationary orbit is also broken. The conclusion is made, that the classical concept of the substorm development, put forward by Akasofu (1964) for isolated substorms, is not workable in cases of the sawtooth disturbances, when the powerful solar wind energy pumping into the magnetosphere provides a permanent powerful aurora particle precipitation into the auroral zone.     

Baryonic Matter and Dark Energy

Estimates of the baryonic density of the universe can be obtained applicable to different epochs of the cosmic history. Ancient values are in satisfactory agreement with each others. However, there seems to be a deficit in the contemporary universe. One aim of this meeting was an exploration of the various sites where these baryons could possibly hide. In the second part of this talk, the status of the recently discovered `dark energy' and its possible influence in the far future of the universe are briefly discussed.     

Performance Evaluation of Suboptimal Filters

The use of a Kalman filter in an applications problem requires a detailed model of both the system dynamics and the measurement dynamics. The model for many problems may be extremely large in dimensionality. However, in many instances one has a limited computer capability and, thus, must purposely introduce modeling errors into the filter in order to gain a computational advantage. However, as is well known, this may lead to the phenomenon of filter divergence. This paper considers the development of equations which allow one to evaluate a filter of reduced state. The equations are based upon using covariance analysis techniques in order to determine the true root-mean-square estimation error. These equations are computationally more advantageous than others appearing in the literature.     

Helium, Oxygen, Proton, and Electron (HOPE) Mass Spectrometer for the Radiation Belt Storm Probes Mission

The HOPE mass spectrometer of the Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) mission (renamed the Van Allen Probes) is designed to measure the in situ plasma ion and electron fluxes over 4π sr at each RBSP spacecraft within the terrestrial radiation belts. The scientific goal is to understand the underlying physical processes that govern the radiation belt structure and dynamics. Spectral measurements for both ions and electrons are acquired over 1 eV to 50 keV in 36 log-spaced steps at an energy resolution ΔE _FWHM/E≈15 %. The dominant ion species (H⁺, He⁺, and O⁺) of the magnetosphere are identified using foil-based time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry with channel electron multiplier (CEM) detectors. Angular measurements are derived using five polar pixels coplanar with the spacecraft spin axis, and up to 16 azimuthal bins are acquired for each polar pixel over time as the spacecraft spins. Ion and electron measurements are acquired on alternate spacecraft spins. HOPE incorporates several new methods to minimize and monitor the background induced by penetrating particles in the harsh environment of the radiation belts. The absolute efficiencies of detection are continuously monitored, enabling precise, quantitative measurements of electron and ion fluxes and ion species abundances throughout the mission. We describe the engineering approaches for plasma measurements in the radiation belts and present summaries of HOPE measurement strategy and performance.     

Mini-belt as a fine spatial structure of the outer radiation belt in quiet and disturbed conditions

Electron flux data from LANL geostationary spacecrafts were statistically treated and ordered in a special magnetic coordinate system (effective L-coordinate and MLT). The data treating procedure allowed to obtain the dynamics of quasi-trapped electrons of different energies on effective L-shells ranging from 6.6 to 7.0. It was found that in quiet conditions a stable fine spatial structure of quasi-trapped electrons exists with maximum of fluxes near L = 6.78 and MLT=12. This structure may be looked at as an asymmetrical “mini-belt”. The position of the maximum depends on electron energy and changes with magnetic activity. The dynamics of this mini-belt for both quiet and disturbed periods is illustrated and discussed. During isolated magnetic storms the mini-belt maximum shifts in a regular manner outward and inward; a diffusion wave of quasi-trapped particles propagates from outside of the geostationary orbit and serves as a source of new particles for the mini-belt. The azimuthal geometry of this diffusion wave extracted from experimental data is illustrated. The possible role of the “mini-belt” is discussed in relation with well-known “anomalous” dynamics of the inner radiation belt.