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Storm time equatorial magnetospheric ion temperature derived from TWINS ENA flux
Author(s) -
Katus R. M.,
Keesee A. M.,
Scime E.,
Liemohn M. W.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9402
pISSN - 2169-9380
DOI - 10.1002/2016ja023824
Subject(s) - ring current , geomagnetic storm , plasma sheet , magnetosphere , ion , physics , plasma , atomic physics , flux (metallurgy) , local time , energetic neutral atom , storm , computational physics , atmospheric sciences , geophysics , solar wind , materials science , meteorology , nuclear physics , statistics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , metallurgy
The plasma sheet plays an integral role in the transport of energy from the magnetotail to the ring current. We present a comprehensive study of the equatorial magnetospheric ion temperatures derived from Two Wide‐angle Imaging Neutral‐atom Spectrometers (TWINS) energetic neutral atom (ENA) measurements during moderate to intense ( Dst peak < −60 nT) storm times between 2009 and 2015. The results are validated using ion temperature data derived from the Geotail low‐energy particle energy analyzer and the Los Alamos National Laboratory magnetospheric plasma analyzer. The ion temperatures are analyzed as a function of storm time, local time, and L shell. We perform a normalized superposed epoch analysis of 48 geomagnetic storms and examine the spatial and temporal evolution of the plasma as a function of storm phase. This analysis illustrates the spatial and temporal variation of the ions from the plasma sheet into the inner magnetosphere. We find that the ion temperature increases approaching the storm peak. This enhancement has the largest magnetic local time extent near 12 R E distance downtail.