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Characteristics Of Thermal And Suprathermal Ions Associated With The Dayside Plasma Trough As Measured By The Dynamics Explorer Retarding Ion Mass Spectrometer, Jan Josef Sojka, Robert W. Schunk, J.F. E. Johnson, J. H. Waite, C. R. Chappell
Characteristics Of Thermal And Suprathermal Ions Associated With The Dayside Plasma Trough As Measured By The Dynamics Explorer Retarding Ion Mass Spectrometer, Jan Josef Sojka, Robert W. Schunk, J.F. E. Johnson, J. H. Waite, C. R. Chappell
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The retarding ion mass spectrometer (RIMS) instrument on Dynamics Explorer 1 has carried out high-altitude measurements of the polar wind. During an outbound pass through the outer plasmasphere and plasma trough at 0900 LT the RIMS instrument measured the detailed characteristics of the thermal and suprathermal ions. Three distinct populations were observed: (1) thermal ions (H+ and He+) with densities ranging from > 500 ions/cm3 to < 1 ion/cm3, temperatures around 2 eV (20,000° K), and H+/He+ density ratios of 2 to 4, (2) warm anisotropic plasma with densities ranging from 2 to 12 ions/cm …