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Van Allen Probe measurements of the electric drift E × B / B 2 at Arecibo's L = 1.4 field line coordinate
Author(s) -
Lejosne Solène,
Mozer F. S.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2016gl069875
Subject(s) - plasmasphere , physics , dynamo , electric field , ionosphere , equipotential , equipotential surface , incoherent scatter , magnetic field , field line , l shell , computational physics , line (geometry) , geophysics , earth's magnetic field , magnetosphere , geometry , quantum mechanics , mathematics
We have used electric and magnetic measurements by Van Allen Probe B from 2013 to 2014 to examine the equatorial electric drift E × B / B 2 at one field line coordinate set to Arecibo's incoherent scatter radar location ( L = 1.43). We report on departures from the traditional picture of corotational motion with the Earth in two ways: (1) the rotational angular speed is found to be 10% smaller than the rotational angular speed of the Earth, in agreement with previous works on plasmaspheric notches, and (2) the equatorial electric drift displays a dependence in magnetic local time, with a pattern consistent with the mapping of the Arecibo ionosphere dynamo electric fields along equipotential magnetic field lines. The electric fields due to the ionosphere dynamo are therefore expected to play a significant role when discussing, for instance, the structure and dynamics of the plasmasphere or the transport of trapped particles in the inner belt.