Volumes and Issues  Contents of Issue 12

Ann. Geophys., 24, 3547-3556, 2006
www.ann-geophys.net/24/3547/2006/
© European Geosciences Union 2006

Energetic ion injection and formation of the storm-time symmetric ring current

L. Xie¹, Z. Y. Pu¹, X. Z. Zhou¹, S. Y. Fu¹, Q.-G. Zong², and M. H. Hong^3
1School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
²Center for Space Physics, Boston University, Boston, 02215, USA
³Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Science, 100029, China

Abstract. An extensive study of ring current injection and intensification of the storm-time ring current is conducted with three-dimensional (3-D) test particle trajectory calculations (TPTCs). The TPTCs reveal more accurately the process of ring current injection, with the main results being the following: (1) an intense convection electric field can effectively energize and inject plasma sheet particles into the ring current region within 1–3 h. (2) Injected ions often follow chaotic trajectories in non-adiabatic regions, which may have implications in storm and ring current physics. (3) The shielding electric field, which arises as a consequence of enhanced convection and co-exists with the injection and convection electric field, may cause the original open trajectories of injected ions with higher energy to change into closed ones, thus playing a role in the formation of the symmetric ring current.

Full Article (PDF, 695 KB)

Citation: Xie, L., Pu, Z. Y., Zhou, X. Z., Fu, S. Y., Zong, Q.-G., and Hong, M. H.: Energetic ion injection and formation of the storm-time symmetric ring current, Ann. Geophys., 24, 3547-3556, 2006.   Bibtex   EndNote   Reference Manager