Accelerated electrons in the LLBL as observed by Interball on February 15, 1996

We analyze electron observations in the low latitude boundary layer (LLBL) with the Interball Tail satellite under a southward–duskward magnetosheath magnetic field. It is well known that the LLBL is characterized by bi-directional electron velocity distributions, which leads to an enhancement of th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Planetary and space science 2005, Vol.53 (1), p.149-156
Main Authors: Vaisberg, O.L., Avanov, L.A., Smirnov, V.N., Sauvaud, J.-A., Borodkova, N.L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Flux transfer events
Low latitude boundary layer
Magnetopause
Magnetosheath
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Summary:We analyze electron observations in the low latitude boundary layer (LLBL) with the Interball Tail satellite under a southward–duskward magnetosheath magnetic field. It is well known that the LLBL is characterized by bi-directional electron velocity distributions, which leads to an enhancement of the electron temperature. It is also well known that the electron temperature within the LLBL increases with a decrease of the LLBL number density. We found that the parallel electron velocity distribution changes self-consistently with varying number density. Namely, the shape of the parallel velocity distribution does not change in a log–log scale indicating that electron parallel velocities increase proportionately as the number density decreases. This suggests a possible role for the Fermi acceleration mechanism. We also discuss the LLBL topology that is provided by electron velocity distributions.
ISSN:0032-0633
1873-5088
DOI:10.1016/j.pss.2004.09.039