Transport of Ionospheric Plasma to the Ring Current
Abstract
It is well-known that the storm-time ring current has a substantial ionospheric heavy ion component, but the roles of various processes within the magnetosphere that cause this have not been clear. As the immediate source of the storm-time ring current is the near-earth plasma sheet, the ionospheric plasma must first be accessing this region. Recent results [Kistler, 2020] have shown that during a storm, there can be a fast change from a predominantly solar wind plasma to a predominantly ionospheric plasma in the near-earth plasma sheet. Processes that likely play a role in enhancing the ionospheric heavy ion component in this region include changes in ion outflow flux during the storm, changes in transport during the storm, and species-dependent acceleration within the plasma sheet. In this study, we investigate what makes this relatively fast transition possible. By combining a statistical study using FAST/TEAMS data of the changes in the ionospheric outflow from the dayside cusp and nightside aurora during a storm with statistical studies of the transport of the outflow to the plasma sheet using Cluster/CODIF and MMS/HPCA, we investigate how the ionospheric plasma is able to reach the plasma sheet in time to be injected into the ring current during the main phase.
References: Kistler, L. M. (2020). Ionospheric and Solar Wind Contributions to the Storm-Time Near-Earth Plasma Sheet. Geophysical Research Letters, 47(2), e90235. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020gl090235- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2022
- Bibcode:
- 2022AGUFMSM12B..03K