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Energy content of stormtime ring current from phase space mapping simulations
Author(s) -
Chen Margaret W.,
Schulz Michael,
Lyons Larry R.
Publication year - 1993
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 - 10.1029/93gl01252
Subject(s) - ring current , magnetosphere , physics , phase space , storm , computational physics , plasma sheet , geomagnetic storm , phase (matter) , particle (ecology) , plasma , current (fluid) , space weather , mechanics , atmospheric sciences , meteorology , thermodynamics , geology , solar wind , nuclear physics , quantum mechanics , oceanography
We perform a phase space mapping study to estimate the enhancement in energy content that results from stormtime particle transport in the equatorial magnetosphere. Our pre‐storm phase space distribution is based on a steady‐state transport model. Using results from guiding‐center simulations of ion transport during model storms having main phases of 3 hr, 6 hr, and 12 hr, we map phase space distributions of ring current protons from the pre‐storm distribution in accordance with Liouville's theorem. We find that transport can account for the entire ten to twenty‐fold increase in magnetospheric particle energy content typical of a major storm if a realistic stormtime enhancement of the phase space density f is imposed at the nightside tail plasma sheet (represented by an enhancement of f at the neutral line in our model)