Field-Aligned Electron Density Distribution of the Inner Magnetosphere Inferred from Coordinated Observations of Arase and Van Allen Probes

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Abstract
Plain Language Summary The plasmasphere is the region filled with cold, dense ionized gas in geospace. The ionized gas mainly consists in protons, helium ions, oxygen ions and electrons, which come from Earth’s ionosphere and fill in magnetic flux tubes. The density distribution of the ionized gas along the flux tube provides important information to understand how the ions and electrons have been supplied from the ionosphere. Many satellites fly in the equatorial plane, hence, do not provide information on the electron density along the field. The RBSP and the Arase satellites have different inclinations and sometimes they simultaneously fly near the equator and off the equator on the same magnetic field line. Using electron densities observed by these satellites during the 7 Sep 2017 storm, we successfully estimated the electron density distribution along of the field lines inside the partially refilled plasmasphere, outside of the plasmasphere and in the tail-like structure called a plume.
Year of Publication
2021
Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Volume
n/a
Number of Pages
e2020JA029073
Date Published
09/2021
URL
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2020JA029073
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JA029073
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