Field-aligned currents and ion convection at high altitudes |
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Authors: | JL Burch PH Reiff |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Space Sciences, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX 78284, USA;7. Department of Space Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, TX 77251, USA |
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Abstract: | Hot plasma observations from Dynamics Explorer 1 have been used to investigate solar-wind ion injection, Birkeland currents, and plasma convection at altitudes above 2 RE in the morning sector. The results of the study, along with the antiparallel merging hypothesis, have been used to construct a BY-dependent global convection model. A significant element of the model is the coexistence of three types of convection cells (“merging cells,” “viscous cells,” and “lobe cells”). As the IMF direction varies, the model accounts for the changing roles of viscous and merging processes and makes testable predictions about several magnetospheric phenomena, including the newly-observed theta aurora in the polar cap. |
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