Impulsive Transport of Solar Wind into the Magnetosphere
Abstract
According to the theory of "impulsive penetration" proposed by Lemaire and Roth, magnetosheath plasma irregularities with an excess momentum density enter the geomagnetic field by means of an E×B drift resulting from their self electric polarization. Collective polarization, thermo-electric charge separation, and non-adiabatic braking are important non-ideal MHD processes. The dipole-dipole interaction force between the Earth's dipole field and the current system of a penetrating 3-dimensional diamagnetic plasmoid can increase or decrease the entry velocity, depending on the orientation of the IMF. A large number of laboratory experiments as well as significant geophysical observations are consistent with this impulsive penetration model.
- Publication:
-
Geophysical Monograph Series
- Pub Date:
- 1995
- DOI:
- 10.1029/GM090p0343
- Bibcode:
- 1995GMS....90..343R