Bibliography

Driving ionospheric outflows and magnetospheric O ⁺ energy density with Alfv\ en waves

We show how dispersive Alfv\ en waves observed in the inner magnetosphere during geomagnetic storms can extract O+ ions from the topside ionosphere and accelerate these ions to energies exceeding 50 keV in the equatorial plane. This occurs through wave trapping, a variant of \textquotedblleftshock\textquotedblright surfing, and stochastic ion acceleration. These processes in combination with the mirror force drive field-aligned beams of outflowing ionospheric ions into the equatorial plane that evolve to provide energetic O+ distributions trapped near the equator. These waves also accelerate preexisting/injected ion populations on the same field lines. We show that the action of dispersive Alfv\ en waves over several minutes may drive order of magnitude increases in O+ ion pressure to make substantial contributions to magnetospheric ion energy density. These wave accelerated ions will enhance the ring current and play a role in the storm time evolution of the magnetosphere.

Chaston, C.; Bonnell, J.; Reeves, G.; Skoug, R.;

Published by: Geophysical Research Letters      Published on: 05/2016

YEAR: 2016     DOI: 10.1002/2016GL069008

Alfven waves; ion acceleration; Ionosphere; ionospheric outflow; ring current

Extreme ionospheric ion energization and electron heating in Alfv\ en waves in the storm-time inner magnetosphere

We report measurements of energized outflowing/bouncing ionospheric ions and heated electrons in the inner magnetosphere during a geomagnetic storm. The ions arrive in the equatorial plane with pitch angles that increase with energy over a range from tens of eV to > 50 keV while the electrons are field-aligned up to ~1 keV. These particle distributions are observed during intervals of broadband low frequency electromagnetic field fluctuations consistent with a Doppler-shifted spectrum of kinetic Alfv\ en waves and kinetic field-line resonances. The fluctuations extend from L≈3 out to the apogee of the Van Allen Probes spacecraft at L≈6.5. They thereby span most of the L-shell range occupied by the ring current. These measurements suggest a model for ionospheric ion outflow and energization driven by dispersive Alfv\ en waves that may account for the large storm-time contribution of ionospheric ions to magnetospheric energy density.

Chaston, C.; Bonnell, J.; Wygant, J.; Kletzing, C.; Reeves, G.; Gerrard, A.; Lanzerotti, L.; Smith, C.;

Published by: Geophysical Research Letters      Published on: 12/2015

YEAR: 2015     DOI: 10.1002/2015GL066674

Alfven waves; electron precipitation; Geomagnetic storms; ion acceleration; ion outflow; ion upflo

Acceleration of ions by electric field pulses in the inner magnetosphere

Intense (~5-15 mV/m), short-lived (<=1 min) electric field pulses have been observed to accompany earthward-propagating, dipolarizing flux bundles (DFB; flux tubes with a strong magnetic field) before they are stopped by the strong dipole field. Using Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions During Substorms (THEMIS) observations and test particle modeling, we investigate particle acceleration around L-shell ~7-9 in the nightside magnetosphere and demonstrate that such pulses can effectively accelerate ions with tens of keV initial energy to hundreds of keV. This acceleration occurs because the ion gyroradius is comparable to the spatial scale of the localized electric field pulse at the leading edge of the flux bundle before it stops. The proposed acceleration mechanism can reproduce observed spectra of high-energy ions. We conclude thatthe electric field associated with dipolarizing flux bundles prior to their stoppage in the inner magnetosphere provides a natural site for intense local ion acceleration.

Artemyev, A.V.; Liu, J.; Angelopoulos, V.; Runov, A.;

Published by: Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics      Published on: 05/2015

YEAR: 2015     DOI: 10.1002/2015JA021160

injections; inner magnetosphere; ion acceleration