Source and loss processes in the inner magnetosphere

Abstract

Most of the magnetospheric mass lies in the inner magnetosphere, in particular in the plasmasphere, and many of the practical issues involving the magnetosphere are based upon inner magnetospheric phenomena, including spacecraft surface and bulk charging, single event effects and high radiation dose rates. The inner magnetospheric populations can be supplied from other magnetospheric populations, for instance via plasma sheet injection which contributes to form the ring current; hence, the inner magnetosphere can serve as a ‘sink’ or loss region for these other regions. Conversely, inner magnetospheric populations may be sources for other magnetospheric plasma regions: for example, during enhancements of convection, regions of the dusk plasmasphere may be convected toward the dayside magnetopause where it is possible that they may become part of the low-latitude boundary layer (LLBL), or even the plasma sheet (e.g., Borovsky et al., 1997b).