Physics Commons^™

Characteristics Of Ion Flow In The Quiet Inner Plasma Sheet, V. Angelopoulos, C. F. Kennel, F. V. Coroniti, R. Pellat, Harlan E. Spence, Margaret G. Kivelson, Raymond J. Walker, W. Baumjohann, W. C. Feldman, J. T. Gosling, C. T. Russell

Physics & Astronomy

Abstract

We use AMPTE/IRM and ISEE 2 data to study the properties of the high beta (β_i > 0.5) plasma sheet, the inner plasma sheet (IPS). Bursty bulk flows (BBFs) are excised from the two databases, and the average flow pattern in the non-BBF (quiet) IPS is constructed. At local midnight this ensemble-average flow is predominantly duskward; closer to the flanks it is mostly earthward. The flow pattern agrees qualitatively with calculations based on the Tsyganenko [1987] model (T87), where the earthward flow is due to the ensemble-average cross tail electric field and the duskward flow is the diamagnetic drift …

Contributions Of The Low-Latitude Boundary Layer To The Finite Width Magnetotail Convection Model, Harlan E. Spence, M. G. Kivelson

Physics & Astronomy

Convection of plasma within the terrestrial nightside plasma sheet contributes to the structure and, possibly, the dynamical evolution of the magnetotail. In order to characterize the steady state convection process, we have extended the finite tail width model of magnetotail plasma sheet convection. The model assumes uniform plasma sources and accounts for both the duskward gradient/curvature drift and the earthward E × B drift of ions in a two-dimensional magnetic geometry. During periods of slow convection (i.e., when the cross-tail electric potential energy is small relative to the source plasma's thermal energy), there is a significant net duskward displacement of …