|
|
 |
|
|
Ann. Geophys., 20, 1529-1538, 2002
www.ann-geophys.net/20/1529/2002/
© European Geosciences Union 2002
Actively produced high-energy electron bursts within the magnetosphere: the APEX project
L. Přech, Z. Nĕmeček, J. Šafránková, and A. Omar
Charles University, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, V Holesovickach 2, 180 00 Praha 8, Czech Republic
Correspondence to: L. Přech
(lubomir.prech@mff.cuni.cz)
Abstract. The APEX project (Active Plasma Experiment)
has been launched into a polar orbit in December 1991 and consists of two
satellites (IK-25 and MAGION-3), with a distance between them from 200 km to 10
000 km. The mission used intensive electron beam emission, complemented by a
low-energy Xenon plasma generator during the electron beam injection, for the
study of dynamic processes in the magnetosphere and upper ionosphere.
The paper deals with short, intensive bursts of field-aligned
electrons observed during the APEX mission on board the MAGION-3 satellite.
These events are located pre-dominantly at the middle geomagnetic latitudes in
the day-side magnetosphere. The time-energy structure of these electron bursts
is similar to the inverted-V one, but the pitch-angle width is less than 10°.
Electrons with an energy up to 700 keV are often observed during the events. We
analyze the observed events, discuss the possible mechanisms of the particle
spreading, and the role of the main satellite’s activity as a possible source
of these events.
Key words. Ionosphere (particle acceleration; particle
precipitation) – Space plasma physics (active perturbation experiments)
Full Article in PDF (606 KB) |
|
|
