The Impacts of Ion Energy Spectra on PRC Formation and Plume Evolution

Ion heating events in the plasma sheet affect particle transport into the inner magnetosphere and can energize Earth's ring current populations. Using the energetic neutral atom (ENA) fluxes from TWINS and IMAGE, a line-of-sight technique for calculating ion energy spectra has been developed. These energy spectra are used as boundary conditions for multi-species (H+, O+, e-) ring current simulations using CRCM with a realistic plasmasphere module and O+ fluxes derived from recent ionospheric outflow models. This study will address how the inclusion of a realistic O+ population impacts the formation of partial ring currents (PRC's), how these structures affect the evolution of plasmaspheric plumes, and what role ion energy spectra boundary conditions have in the development of these structures.