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The Warm Plasma Composition in the Inner Magnetosphere During 2012–2015
Author(s) -
Jahn J.M.,
Goldstein J.,
Reeves G. D.,
Fernandes P. A.,
Skoug R. M.,
Larsen B. A,
Spence H. E.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9402
pISSN - 2169-9380
DOI - 10.1002/2017ja024183
Subject(s) - plasmasphere , magnetosphere , ring current , plasma sheet , physics , ionosphere , van allen radiation belt , geomagnetic storm , exosphere , van allen probes , plasma , geophysics , ion , atmospheric sciences , solar wind , quantum mechanics
Ionospheric heavy ions play an important role in the dynamics of Earth's magnetosphere. The greater mass and gyroradius of ionospheric oxygen differentiates its behavior from protons at the same energies. Oxygen may have an impact on tail reconnection processes, and it can at least temporarily dominate the energy content of the ring current during geomagnetic storms. At sub‐keV energies, multispecies ion populations in the inner magnetosphere form the warm plasma cloak, occupying the energy range between the plasmasphere and the ring current. Lastly, cold lighter ions from the midlatitude ionosphere create the corotating plasmasphere whose outer regions can interact with the plasma cloak, plasma sheet, ring current, and outer electron belt. In this paper we present a statistical view of warm, cloak‐like ion populations in the inner magnetosphere, contrasting, in particular, the warm plasma composition during quiet and active times. We study the relative abundances and absolute densities of warm plasma measured by the Van Allen Probes, whose two spacecraft cover the inner magnetosphere from plasmaspheric altitudes close to Earth to just inside geostationary orbit. We observe that warm (>30 eV) oxygen is most abundant closer to the plasmasphere boundary, whereas warm hydrogen dominates closer to geostationary orbit. Warm helium is usually a minor constituent but shows a noticeable enhancement in the near‐Earth dusk sector.