Abstract
Recent observations by the Dynamics Explorer satellites indicate that auroral field lines are not equipotentials. The field- aligned “conductivity” is the same for up and downgoing currents and of the order of several 10-8 to several 10-9 Ω-1m-2. This is not in agreement with models based on the resistance provided by the magnetic mirror force alone. It is suggested that the resistivity is due to damping of kinetic shear-Alfven wave packets. This damping may be nonlinear in nature or Landau damping. We briefly review the properties of kinetic Alfven waves.
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© 1985 D. Reidel Publishing Company
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Goertz, C.K. (1985). Auroral Arc Formation: Kinetic and MHD Effects. In: Ashour-Abdalla, M., Dutton, D.A. (eds) Space Plasma Simulations. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5454-0_30
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5454-0_30
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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