Storm-Time Strong Field-Aligned Ion Upflow in Region of the SED Plume

We report the observations from the GPS TEC and DMSP F-13 satellites showing that very strong upward field-aligned （FA） ion velocity and flux in the outer region of the storm-enhanced density （SED） occurred in the event of the geomagnetic storm on 29-31 May 2003. By a method of coordinate transformation, upward FA ion velocities in excess of 25Orals are obtained from the observations of the DMSP F-13 satellite. Further, an FA ion flux is estimated to be about 4.5 x 1013 ions/m2 s in the dusk sector. The estimated FA ion velocity and flux provide a powerful direct proof to support the scenario that there is a strong coupling of particles between the ionosphere and plasmasphere in the region of the SED plume. In the process, FA ion flux transports from the ionosphere to the plasmasphere in the region of the SED plume. Therefore, the plume of SED in the ionosphere provides an important source to the enhanced density of O^＋ in the storm-time plasmasphere.     

Correlations between Strong Range Spread-F and GPS L-Band Scintillations Observed in Hainan in 2004

Data from the DPS-4 digisonde and the GPS L-band ionospheric scintillation monitor are employed to study the correlations between strong range spread-F （SSF） and GPS L-band scintillations observed in the ionosphere over Hainan Island, China （19.5°N, 109.1°E geogr., dip lat. 9°N） in 2004. The SSF in the ionogram is different from the general range spread-F because it extends in frequency well beyond FoF2 and makes FoF2 difficult to be determined. The observations show that the SSF phenomenon is frequently accompanied by the occurrence of GPS L-band scintillations. The SSF and GPS L-band scintillations occur frequently in the equinoctial months （March, April, September, and October）, but rarely in the winter （January, February, November, and December） and summer （May-August）; especially, occurrence variations of the SSF and GPS L-band scintillations nearly have a same trend. The SSF and scintillations may be associated with the occurrence of topside plasma bubbles and could be explained by the eneralized Rayleigh-Taylor instability.     

Changes of geomagnetic transmissivity in the disturbed magnetosphere: ground-based and CORONAS-F observations

We report increases of cosmic-ray intensity at lowL shells, on the ground as well as on the altitude of 500 km, during the selected intervals when magnetosphere was strongly disturbed. The geomagnetic transmissivity for cosmic ray vertical access has been computed for four events, using two geomagnetic field models. The first event, namely, dated November 20–22, 2003, led to an increase of galactic cosmic-ray intensity due to the improvement of magnetospheric transmissivity at neutron monitors with high nominal cut-off rigidity. Other two events with high-energy solar proton emissions, namely, dated October 28 and November 2, 2003, caused different responses at middle latitudes. The first one followed by the strong geomagnetic disturbance led to the shift of the penetration boundary of protons, having(50–90) MeV at CORONAS-F satellite toL<3, coinciding approximately with the cut-off reduction expected byDst depression, while the other one, without remarkableDst decrease, did not shift the outer boundary of penetration belowL ≈ 4. And the fourth of the events, on November 8, 2004, with strong geomagnetic disturbance, yielded a complicated structure of cosmic-ray time profiles: superimposed on the cosmic-ray decrease, viewed by neutron monitors and by CORONAS-F at high latitude; an increase of intensity at middle latitudes both on the ground and on the altitude of 500 km has been observed during theDst depression. This work was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under the contract No. APVV-51-053805. The work at Technical University was supported by VEGA grant 2/4064.     

Properties of Field Aligned Current in Plasma Sheet Boundary Layers in Magnetotail: Cluster Observation

Field aligned current （FAC） distribution in the plasma sheet boundary layers （PSBLs） in the magnetotail is studied statistically by analysing magnetic field data from the Cluster 4-point measurements. The results show that the FAC distribution on the dusk side is not the same as that on the dawn side in the magnetotail. On the each side earthward and tailward, FA C occurrences are different; occurrence and average current density of FA Cs in the northern hemisphere are different from those in the southern hemisphere. This implies that the FACs have dusk-dawn side asymmetry, polarity asymmetry and inter hemisphere difference in the magnetotail. The present results give a good observation evidence for study on the FAC mechanism.     

Second-Order Resonant Interaction of Ring Current Protons with Whistler-Mode Waves

We present a study on the second-order resonant interaction between the ring current protons with Whistler-mode waves propagating near the quasi electrostatic limit following the previous second-order resonant theory. The diffusion coefficients are proportional to the electric field amplitude E, much greater than those for the regular first-order resonance, which are proportional to the electric field amplitudes square E^2. Numerical calculations for the pitch angle scattering are performed for typical energies of protons Ek = 50 keV and 100 keV at locations L = 2 and L = 3.5. The timescale for the loss process of protons by the Whistler waves is found to approach one hour, comparable to that by the EMIC waves, suggesting that Whistler waves may also contribute significantly to the ring current decay under appropriate conditions.     

Langmuir probe measurements in the sheath of a highly charged body

Summary We perform a model study of the electrical characteristics of a Langmuir probe moving in the field of a highly charged central body. The study is mainly motivated by a recent proposal, in the context of the Tethered Satellite System project, where the use of probes to study the space charge region surrounding a highly charged satellite is foreseen.

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Riassunto Si presenta un’analisi delle caratteristiche elettriche di una sonda di Langmuir nel campo elettrico di un corpo centrale ad alto stato di carica. Lo studio è soprattutto motivato da una recente proposta di esperimento per il progetto Tethered Satellite System dove si prevede l’uso di sonde per studiare la regione di carica spaziale attorno da un satellite a elevati potenziali.

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Измерения с помошью Ленгмюровского зонда в оболочке сильно заряженного тела

Резюме Предлагается анализ Электрических характеристик Ленгмюровского зонда, движушегося в поле центрального сильно заряженного тела. Йсследование, в основном, было обусловлено недавно предложенным Экспериментом в связи с проектом ? привязанной спутниковой системы ? в котором предполагается использование зондов для исследования области пространственного заряда, окружаюшей сильно заряженный спутник.

     

Characteristics of Wave--Particle Interaction in a Hydrogen Plasma

We study the characteristics of cyclotron way,particle interaction in a typical hydrogen plasma. The numerical calculations of minimum resonant energy Emin, resonant wave frequency ω, and pitch angle diffusion coefficient Dαα for interactions between R-mode/L-mode and electrons/protons are presented. It is found that Emin decreases with ω for R-mode/electron, L-mode/proton and L-mode/electron interactions, but increase with ω for R-mode/proton interaction. It is shown that both R-mode and L-mode waves can efficiently scatter energetic （10 keV-100 keV） electrons and protons and cause precipitation loss at L = 4, indicating that perhaps waveparticle interaction is a serious candidate for the ring current decay.     

Bounce-Averaged Acceleration of Energetic Electrons by Whistler Mode Chorus in the Magnetosphere

We construct the bounce-averaged diffusion coefficients and study the bounce-averaged acceleration for energetic electrons in gyroresonance with whistler mode chorus. Numerical calculations have been performed for a band of chorus frequency distributed over a standard Gaussian spectrum specifically in the region near L = 4.5, where peaks of the electron phase space density occur. It is found that whistler mode chorus can efficiently accelerate electrons and can increase the phase space density at energies of about 1 MeV by more than one order of magnitude about one day, in agreement with the satellite observations during the recovery phase of magnetic storms.     

Nonlinear Evolution of Lower-Hybrid Drift Instability in Harris Current Sheet

We perform 2.5-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations to investigate the nonlinear evolution of the lower hybrid drift instability (LHDI) in Harris current sheet. Due to the drift motion of electrons in the electric field of the excited low hybrid drift (LHD) waves, the electrons accumulate at the outer layer, and therefore there is net positive charge at the inner edge of the current sheet. This redistribution of charge can create an electrostatic field along the z direction, which then modifies the motions of the electrons along the y direction by E×B drift. This effect strongly changes the structure of the current sheet.     

Bounce-averaged Pitch-angle Diffusion by Electromagnetic Ion Cyclotron Waves in Multi-ion Plasmas

We present a study on the gyroresonant interaction particles in multi-ion （H^＋, He^＋, and O^＋） plasmas between electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves and ring current We provide a first evaluation of the bounce-averaged pitch angle diffusion coefficient 〈Dαα〉 for three typical energies of 50, 100 and 150keV at L ≈ 3.5, the heart of the symmetrical ring current. We show that in the H^＋-band and He^＋-band, 〈Dαα〉 can approach - 10^-4 s^-1 for ion H^＋, and - 5 × 10^-5 s^-1 /or ion He^＋; meanwhile, in the O^＋-band, 〈Dαα〉 can reach - 10^-5 s^-1 for ions He^＋ and O^＋. The results above show that the EMIC wave can efficiently produce precipitation loss of energetic （- 100 keV） ions （H^＋, He^＋ and even O^＋）, and such a wave tends to be a serious candidate responsible for the ring current decay.     

Interhemispheric Comparison of Dipole Tilt Angle Effects on Latitude of Mid-Altitude Cusp

A statistical study of interhemispheric comparison of dipole tilt angle effect on the latitude of the mid-altitude cusp is preformed by a data set of the Cluster cusp crossings over a 5-year period. The result shows that the dipole tilt angle has a clear control of the cusp latitudinal location. When the dipole tilts sunwards, the cusp is shifted poleward. The northern cusp moves 1° ILAT for every 15.4° increase in the dipole tilt angle, while the southern cusp moves 1° ILAT for every 20.8° increase in the dipole tilt angle. This suggests that an interhemispheric difference appears in the dependence of cusp latitudinal location on the dipole tilt angle.     

Dynamic Evolution of Outer Radiation Belt Electrons due to Whistler-Mode Chorus

Following our preceding work, we perform a further study on dynamic evolution of energetic electrons in the outer radiation belt L=4.5 due to a band of whistler-mode chorus frequency distributed over a standard Gaussian spectrum. We solve the 2D bounce-averaged Fokker-Planek equation by allowing incorporation of cross diffusion rates. Numerical results show that whistler-mode chorus can be effective in acceleration of electrons at large pitch angles, and enhance the phase space density for energies of about 1 MeV by a factor of 10^2 or above in about one day, consistent with observation of significant enhancement in flux of energetic electrons during the recovery phase of a geomagnetic storm. Moreover, neglecting cross diffusion often leads to overestimates of the phase space density evolution at large pitch angle by a factor of 5-10 after one day, with larger errors at smaller pitch angle, suggesting that cross diffusion also plays an important role in wave-particle interaction.     

Contribution from the Earth's Bow Shock to Region 1 Current under Low Alfvén Mach Numbers

Using global MHD simulations of the solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere system, we investigate the dependence of the contribution from the Earth's bow shock (I_1bs) to ionospheric region 1 field aligned current (FAC) (I₁). It is found that I_1bs increases with increasing southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) strength B_s, if the Alfvén Mach number M_A of the solar wind exceeds 2, a similar result as obtained by previous authors. However, if M_A becomes close to or falls below 2, I_1bs will decrease with B_s in both magnitude and percentage (i.e., I_1bs}/I₁) because of the resultant reduction of the bow shock strength. Both the surface current density J_bs at the nose of the bow shock and the total bow shock current I_bs share nearly the same relationship with M_A, and vary non-monotonically with M_A or B_s. The maximum point is found to be located at M_A = 2.7. Three conclusions are then made as follows: (1) The surface current density at the nose, which is much easier to be evaluated, may be used to largely describe the behaviour of the bow shock instead of the total bow shock current. (2) The peak of the total bow shock current is reached at about M_A = 2.7 when only B_s is adjusted. (3) The non-monotonic variation of the bow shock current with M_A causes a similar variation of its contribution to region 1 FAC. The turning point for such contribution is found to be nearly M_A= 2. The implication of these conclusions to the saturation of the ionospheric transpolar potential is briefly discussed     

Simulation of Resonant Interaction between Energetic Electrons and Whistler-Mode Chorus in the Outer Radiation Belt

We construct a realistic model to evaluate the chorus wave-particle interaction in the outer radiation belt L = 4.5. This model incorporates a plasmatrough number density model, a field-aligned density model and a realistic wave power and frequency model. We solve the 2D bounce-averaged momentum-pitch-angle Fokker-Planck equation and show that the Whistler-mode chorus can be effective in the acceleration of electrons, and enhance the phase space density for energies of -1 MeV by a factor from 10 to 10^3 in about two days, consistent with the observation. We also demonstrate that ignorance of the electron number density variation along field line and magnetic local time in the previous work yields an overestimate of energetic electron phase space density by a factor 5-10 at large pitch-angle after two days, suggesting that a realistic plasma density model is very important to evaluate the evolution of energetic electrons in the outer radiation belt.     

Pitch Angle Distribution Evolution of Energetic Electrons by Whistler-Mode Chorus

We develop a two-dimensional momentum and pitch angle code to solve the typical Fokker-Planck equation which governs wave-particle interaction in space plasmas. We carry out detailed calculations of momentum and pitch angle diffusion coefficients, and temporal evolution of pitch angle distribution for a band of chorus frequency distributed over a standard Gaussian spectrum particularly in the heart of the Earth＇s radiation belt L = 4.5, where peaks of the electron phase space density are observed. We find that the Whistler-mode chorus can produce significant acceleration of electrons at large pitch angles, and can enhance the phase space density for energies of 0.5 - 1 MeV by a factor of 10 or above after about 24h. This result can account for observation of significant enhancement in flux of energetic electrons during the recovery phase of a geomagnetic storm.     

Nonlinear-Ion-Acoustic-Wave Instability, Threshold, Half Width of Trapped Region and Transition Region

Nonlinear Landau damping of ion acoustic wave (IAW) is one of the most important phenomena in the ionosphere and in space and laboratory plasma as well. The instability growth rate of the IAW with electron drift, the amplitude threshold for exciting the nonlinear effects, the half widths of the trapped region with the trapped electrons are studied experimentally. Under the experimental conditions, it is shown that there is a frequency range of 140--160 kHz, within which the growth rate has the largest value of about 6×10⁴--1.5×10⁵ s^-1. We obtain the transitional region width caused by collisions theoretically and experimentally, for the first time to our knowledge. The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical prediction.     

Modulation instability of intense laser beam in an electron-positron plasma

Modulation instability of an intense right-hand elliptically polarized laser beam propagating through an electron-positron plasma is investigated by a new method. The nonlinear dispersion relation, in which the relativistic and ponderomotive nonlinearities are taken into account, is obtained for the laser radiation in electron-positron plasma by the Lorentz transformation. The Karpman equation is generalized to the case of three dimensions with three field components. When the nonlinear frequency shift of the electromagnetic field in plasma is involved, the nonlinear evolution equation for the slowly varying envelope of the laser field is obtained. Thus, modulation instability of the intense laser beam in electron-positron plasma is studied and the temporal growth rate of the instability is derived. The analysis shows that the growth rate of modulation instability is increased significantly near the critical surface in a laser-plasma.     

Charging of a conducting sphere moving in a weakly ionized gas under an arbitrarily oriented external uniform electric field

A charging conducting sphere moving in a weakly ionized gas is investigated. An external uniform electric field is applied with arbitrary orientation relative to the gas flow. The ion current is obtained analytically and investigated numerically in ballistic assumption. It is shown that charging regimes depend not only on the net charge of the sphere but also on the gas flow type, and the parameter ξ_± – the ratio of ion drift velocity far from the sphere to the gas velocity. The cases |ξ_±|<1 and |ξ_±|>1 yield two different charging regimes for Stokes and potential flows. For the potential flow, the ion current has been found analytically in continuous ξ_±-parameter space. The stationary charge of an isolated sphere is also calculated numerically as a function of α. It achieves maximum magnitudes in direct (α=0) and back (α=π) flows respectively.     

Modulation instability by intense laser beam in magnetized plasma

Modulation instability of an intense right-hand elliptically polarized laser beam propagating through magnetized plasma is investigated by a new method. The nonlinear dispersion relation, in which the relativistic and ponderomotive nonlinearities are taken into account, is obtained for the laser radiation in magnetized plasma by the Lorentz transformation. The Karpman equation is firstly generalized to the case of three dimensions with three field components. When the nonlinear frequency shift of the electromagnetic field in plasma is involved, the nonlinear evolution equation for the slowly varying envelope of the laser field is obtained. Thus, modulation instability of the intense laser beam in magnetized plasma is studied and the temporal growth rate of the instability is derived. The analysis shows that the peak growth rate of self-modulation instability is increased due to the axial magnetization of plasma. It is also shown that the growth rate of modulation instability is increased significantly near the critical surface in a laser-plasma.     

The morphology of electrostatic tripolar regions

Electrostatic tripolar regions in plasmas develop a skewness of their own electric potential waveform as a peculiar morphological property, which distinguishes them from symmetric electrostatic solitary waves. Within the collision-less, kinetic treatment developed here, this property holds if the velocity distributions of electrons and ions are singular in value, irrespective of their smoothness at the region’s boundary and of the smoothness of the potential waveform and of the electron and ion density distributions. These singularities are integrable, and are of the logarithmic and jump type: the former occur at isolated points in phase space; the latter occur on the left branch of the electron separatrix and on the left branch of the ion sub-separatrix. The distributions are non-negative if, at its local extrema, the potential waveform is skewed to the left, in agreement with observations, and if the skewness is smaller than a given bound: a sufficient condition for such skewness to be small about the minimum of the potential waveform is that a sufficiently fast electron beam exists on the high-potential boundary of the tripolar region. In those special cases in which the particle distributions are continuous in value, the above mentioned singularities affect their space and velocity derivatives. These results could be extracted from very general considerations on the degree of smoothness of the spatial distribution of the electric potential and on the non-negativity of the electron and ion distributions, without the assistance of any specific models.