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Plasmasphere and its interaction with the ring current

Such novel instruments as the mutual impedance probe and the ion energy-mass spectrometer, introduced into plasmaspheric studies since 1976, have revealed the existence in the plasmasphere of the previously undetected ions He(2+) and O(2+) and allowed the measurement of ion pitch distributions in th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Space science reviews 1983-03, Vol.34 (3), p.245-257
Main Author: Gringauz, K.I.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Such novel instruments as the mutual impedance probe and the ion energy-mass spectrometer, introduced into plasmaspheric studies since 1976, have revealed the existence in the plasmasphere of the previously undetected ions He(2+) and O(2+) and allowed the measurement of ion pitch distributions in the 10-20 eV range. New measurements confirm the existence of a warm zone in the outer plasmasphere, and of a midday-midnight asymmetry of the plasmasphere. The source of outer plasmasphere heating seems to be the ring current decay, with electrons being heated less than ions. In addition to being the medium of ring current decay, the plasmasphere appears to be one of the ring current ion sources.
ISSN:0038-6308
1572-9672
DOI:10.1007/BF00175281