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Series

1984

Plasma motion

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Physics

On The Reversal From “Sunward” To “Antisunward” Plasma Convection In The Dayside High Latitude Ionosphere, T S. Jorgensen, E Friis-Christensen, Vincent B. Wickwar, J D. Kelly, C R. Clauer, P M. Banks Jan 1984

On The Reversal From “Sunward” To “Antisunward” Plasma Convection In The Dayside High Latitude Ionosphere, T S. Jorgensen, E Friis-Christensen, Vincent B. Wickwar, J D. Kelly, C R. Clauer, P M. Banks

All Physics Faculty Publications

Preliminary observations of dayside high latitude ionospheric plasma convection with the Sondrestrom incoherent‐scatter radar indicate that plasma can be observed to enter the polar cap region through rotational reversals at most local times between dawn and dusk and not just in a narrow region around noon. Assuming that rotational reversals are signatures of a solar wind‐magnetosphere interaction which drives magnetospheric convection, the observations indicate that this interaction occurs over a longitudinally wide area of the dayside magnetosphere. The observations also show that the distribution of F‐region plasma in the polar cap is dependent on ionization sources anywhere between dawn and …


Very High Electron Temperatures In The Daytime F-Region At Sondrestrom, W Kofman, Vincent B. Wickwar Jan 1984

Very High Electron Temperatures In The Daytime F-Region At Sondrestrom, W Kofman, Vincent B. Wickwar

All Physics Faculty Publications

Sondrestrom observations show that a characteristic F‐region signature of the interaction between the magnetosphere and ionosphere is a narrow band of elevated electron temperatures. Its location is associated with the ion convection reversal in the morning and evening convection cells. Typically, near 500 km altitude, the temperature is 3500 to 4000 K. However, on 24 April 1983, a geomagnetically very active day with Kp values of 6‐ during the period of interest, the electron temperature reached 6000 K in the afternoon convection reversal. The ion velocities were between 1 and 2 km/s on both sides of the reversal. There was …


Ionospheric Currents And F-Region Plasma Boundaries Near The Dayside Cusp, S Vennerstrom, E Friis-Christensen, T S. Jorgensen, C. E. Rasmussen, C R. Clauer, Vincent B. Wickwar Jan 1984

Ionospheric Currents And F-Region Plasma Boundaries Near The Dayside Cusp, S Vennerstrom, E Friis-Christensen, T S. Jorgensen, C. E. Rasmussen, C R. Clauer, Vincent B. Wickwar

All Physics Faculty Publications

Observational evidence of the location of a dayside high‐latitude ionospheric current (DPY current) with respect to the different regimes of the high‐latitude magnetosphere is obtained by analyzing data from the magnetometer chain along the west coast of Greenland in conjunction with simultaneous measurements from the newly established incoherent‐scatter radar facility at Sondre Stromfjord. The latitudinal location of the DPY current is compared with the location of the maximum F‐region electron temperature and with the location of the plasma convection reversal from sunward to antisunward. The maximum in the F‐region electron temperature roughly coincides with the velocity reversal boundary, while the …


Dayside Red Auroras At Very High Latitudes: The Importance Of Thermal Excitation, Vincent B. Wickwar, W Kofman Jan 1984

Dayside Red Auroras At Very High Latitudes: The Importance Of Thermal Excitation, Vincent B. Wickwar, W Kofman

All Physics Faculty Publications

Extensive radar observations have been made from Sondrestrom of the F region in the daytime sector between 70 and 79° Λ. Regions of enhanced electron temperature and electron density are found in close association with the velocity reversal in the morning and afternoon convection cells. From the radar measurements, calculations are made of the contributions to the atomic oxygen emission at 6300A from dissociative recombination and thermal excitation. The latter mechanism, in particular, in the enhancement regions gives rise to intensities that are comparable to those observed at very high latitudes during the past decade.