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Thermal structure of dayside plasmasphere according to the data of Tail and Auroral Probes, and Magion-5 satellite

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Abstract

We consider the results of measurements of density and temperature of cold plasma in the dayside sector of the plasmasphere. The measurements were made by Interball-1 (Tail Probe) in November 1995, by Interball-2 (Auroral Probe) in August 1996 (the periods close to the solar cycle minimum), and by the Magion-5 satellite in June 2000 (this period is close to the solar cycle maximum). It was shown by the measurements in the dayside sector of the plasmasphere that, contrary to expectations of model distributions of temperature in the plasmasphere [1, 2], under quiet geomagnetic conditions the temperature of hydrogen ions of the cold plasma filling the plasmasphere was observed to increase at altitudes 5000 km < H < 10000 km. Its altitude gradient was equal to ∼0.5 deg/km, the geomagnetic latitude being variable within the limits 10° < λ < 40°. The maximum values of temperature of protons, as measured by Tail Probe and Auroral Probe deep in the plasma-sphere, were equal to ∼4000–6000 K. According to the data obtained by the Magion-5 satellite in the depth of the plasmasphere, these temperatures varied within the limits 7500–8500 K. These results can be considered as some indication of a dependence of the plasmasphere thermal structure on the phase of the solar cycle. In the region 2.5 < L < 5 and at geomagnetic latitudes λ < 40°, drops of the ion temperature were regularly observed with values reaching ∼2000 K.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Space Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsoyuznaya ul. 84/32, Moscow, 117997, Russia

    V. V. Bezrukikh, G. A. Kotova & M. I. Verigin

  2. Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Academy of Sciences of Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic

    J. Smilauer

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  1. V. V. Bezrukikh
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  2. G. A. Kotova
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  3. M. I. Verigin
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  4. J. Smilauer
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Original Russian Text © V.V. Bezrukikh, G.A. Kotova, M.I. Verigin, J. Smilauer, 2006, published in Kosmicheskie Issledovaniya, 2006, Vol. 44, No. 5, pp. 428–437.

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Bezrukikh, V.V., Kotova, G.A., Verigin, M.I. et al. Thermal structure of dayside plasmasphere according to the data of Tail and Auroral Probes, and Magion-5 satellite. Cosmic Res 44, 409–418 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0010952506050042

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0010952506050042

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