Open AccessRemote‐sensing magnetospheric dynamics with riometers: Observation and theory
Author(s) -
Liu W. W.,
Liang J.,
Spanswick E.,
Donovan E. F.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2006ja012115
Subject(s) - riometer , substorm , magnetosphere , plasma sheet , physics , geophysics , electron , context (archaeology) , ionosphere , plasma , computational physics , geology , nuclear physics , paleontology
The importance of monitoring particle injection into the inner magnetosphere from the plasma sheet is exceeded perhaps only by its difficulty. The recent progress in using ground‐based riometer data [e.g., Spanswick et al., 2007] to detect by proxy particle injection has raised much hope that this important aspect of substorms can be more consistently monitored. In this paper we develop a theoretical model for explaining the observed dispersionless injection events reported by Spanswick et al. The substorm event on 3 October 1998 is analyzed to give the empirical context for riometer responses during a typical substorm. Our simulation shows that riometer electrons produce a clean and strong signal that can be uniquely and easily related to magnetic field dipolarization that normally gives rise to injection.