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About the influence of electron temperature and relative ionic composition on ion depletion in the wake of the AE‐C satellite
Author(s) -
Samir Uri,
Brace L. H.,
Brinton H. C.
Publication year - 1979
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/gl006i002p00101
Subject(s) - ion , wake , ionosphere , satellite , electron , plasma , atomic physics , ionic bonding , ion current , electron temperature , physics , materials science , analytical chemistry (journal) , chemistry , geophysics , thermodynamics , quantum mechanics , astronomy , chromatography
Data from the cylindrical electrostatic probe and from the Bennett ion mass spectrometer on board the AE‐C satellite were examined in order to determine the influence of electron temperature (T e ) and ion composition on the amount of ion depletion in the wake of an ionospheric satellite. We observe that both electron temperature and ionic composition significantly influence the amount of ion depletion in the near wake zone, as measured by the ion current collected by the cylindrical probe mounted about 32 cm from the surface of the satellite. The ion current in the wake in an O + dominated plasma decreases with respect to ambient by about two orders of magnitude at T e ≈ 1000°K and by a factor of about 30 at T e ≈ 3000°K. For a plasma where the O + density equals the H + density, the ion current decreases by a factor of 6 in the wake at T e = 1000°K and by a factor of 2.3 at 3000°K.