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First polar and 1995‐034 observations of the midaltitude cusp during a persistent northward IMF condition
Author(s) -
Grande M.,
Fennell J.,
Livi S.,
Kellett B.,
Perry C.,
Anderson P.,
Roeder J.,
Spence H.,
Fritz T.,
Wilken B.
Publication year - 1997
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 - 10.1029/97gl01291
Subject(s) - cusp (singularity) , polar , solar wind , physics , atmospheric sciences , plasma , altitude (triangle) , range (aeronautics) , polar wind , astrophysics , magnetopause , geophysics , geology , astronomy , materials science , geometry , mathematics , quantum mechanics , composite material
We present the first observations by Polar and 1995‐034 of the mid‐altitude cusp. On May 29, 1996, the Polar and 1995‐034 spacecraft crossed into an extended cusp region. The region was characterized by intense fluxes of solar wind like ions in the energy range 1–10 keV that had angular distributions that showed evidence of flows and trapping. The ion composition data are combined with energetic proton observations from Polar and plasma observations from 1995‐034 and DMSP satellites to examine the spatial and temporal extent and plasma characteristics of the cusp during a persistent northward IMF condition. The composition data is consistent with expected solar wind composition with a source temperature of ∼1.25 × 10 6 K. The combined spacecraft observations show an extended cusp‐like region, probably produced by northward IMF.