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A linkage between polar patches and plasmaspheric drainage plumes
Author(s) -
Su YiJiun,
Thomsen Michelle F.,
Borovsky Joseph E.,
Foster John C.
Publication year - 2001
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 - 10.1029/2000gl012042
Subject(s) - plasmasphere , millstone hill , geology , polar cap , polar , geophysics , plume , ionosphere , convection , incoherent scatter , substorm , magnetosphere , plasma , physics , meteorology , astronomy , quantum mechanics
Two distinct features are shown here to follow the same convection pattern: polar ionization patches and plasmaspheric drainage plumes. In this study, the enhanced ionospheric electron concentration, observed from Millstone Hill incoherent scatter radar, is mapped to the equatorial plane. The resulting trajectory there is found to coincide with the location of the draining plasmasphere as observed from a geosynchronous satellite. The result indicates that both the F ‐region electron concentration and the plasmaspheric drainage plume follow the newest separatrix (the boundary between open and closed drift trajectories) convecting sunward. Observations have shown that the polar patches are transported over the polar cap into the night side. Hence, we conclude that the draining plasmasphere should follow a similar trajectory transporting plasmaspheric material over the polar cap into the tail plasma sheet.