The growth rate and location of the acceleration of energetic particles inside the plasma sheet
Abstract
Fine-time resolution measurements of energetic particles are used in this work during an impulsive burst inside the plasma sheet, in order to determine the location of their source and estimate the growth-rate of the explosive phase of the plasma instability, which is responsible for their acceleration. On the basis of the onset times of both the energetic ions and relativistic electron intensity enhancements, as well as the angular distribution of the particle intensities it is concluded that : (a) the burst event was temporal, (b) the location of the source was inside the plasma sheet at X ∼- - 24 RE, (c) the growth-rate of the "effective potential" accelerating the particles to the observed non-thermal energies was ~ 20 kV s -1, (d) the field disturbance and the fast plasma jetting, which follow the impulsive burst are consistent with the picture of an impulsive localized source of energetic particles inside the plasma sheet.
- Publication:
-
Planetary and Space Science
- Pub Date:
- May 1989
- DOI:
- 10.1016/0032-0633(89)90091-3
- Bibcode:
- 1989P&SS...37..503P
- Keywords:
-
- Energetic Particles;
- Magnetohydrodynamic Stability;
- Particle Acceleration;
- Plasma Layers;
- Satellite Sounding;
- Space Plasmas;
- Angular Distribution;
- Ion Distribution;
- Relativistic Electron Beams;
- Geophysics