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Plasmaspheric depletion and refilling associated with the September 25, 1998 magnetic storm observed by ground magnetometers at L = 2
Author(s) -
Chi P. J.,
Russell C. T.,
Musman S.,
Peterson W. K.,
Le G.,
Angelopoulos V.,
Reeves G. D.,
Moldwin M. B.,
Chun F. K.
Publication year - 2000
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 - 10.1029/1999gl010722
Subject(s) - plasmasphere , magnetometer , geomagnetic storm , geophysics , storm , latitude , atmospheric sciences , tec , convection , geology , magnetosphere , polar cap , physics , magnetic field , ionosphere , solar wind , meteorology , geodesy , quantum mechanics
The plasmaspheric mass density at L ≃ 2 was monitored by two IGPP/LANL ground magnetometer stations during the magnetic storm on September 25, 1998. Even at this low latitude the plasma density dropped significantly to ≃ 1/4 of the pre‐storm value. The total electron content (TEC) inferred by GPS signals also shows a sizable decrease during the storm. The observations suggest that the convection caused by the strong electric field associated with the magnetic storm eroded the plasmasphere as low as L = 2, which is a much lower latitude than that expected from the estimated potential drop across the polar cap together with a simple model of the magnetospheric convection pattern.