Vertical Plasma Flow in Auroral Boundary Coordinates for 1997

Contemporary magnetosphere modelers are now including species dependent dynamics. Energetic O+ has significant consequences for the ring current stored energy and perhaps the timing of substorm injections. The mechanism by which thermal O+ escapes from the top of the ionosphere and into the magnetosphere is not fully understood. Previous work has indicated there is a MLT dependence on the energization efficiency of thermal ions between DMSP altitudes (~840km) and Polar altitudes (6000-9000km). The study was inconclusive because of uncertainties associated with expansion and contraction of the auroral oval. These results supported the need to project upwelling O+ in dynamic auroral boundary oriented coordinates. We have created a new algorithm to select appropriate equatorward and poleward boundaries for each polar crossing. Using this new auroral boundary coordinate system, we present vertical ion flow measured in-situ by the DMSP SSIES ion drift meters aboard F12 (noon-midnight) and F13 (dawn-dusk) satellites compared to higher altitude observations in auroral boundary coordinates for 1997.