Abstract Plasma sheet energetic ion data (0.1- to 16-keV/e) obtained by the Plasma Composition Experiment on ISEE-1 between 10 and 23 RE are compared with concurrent IMF and solar wind plasma data. The densities of H+ and He++ ions in the plasma sheet are found to be the highest, and the most nearly proportional to the solar wind density, when the IMF BZ is northward. When ordered by increasing magnitude of the IMF, under the optimum condition of northward BZ, the plasma sheet H+ density maintains, within statistical uncertainties, a constant ratio to the solar wind H+ density at B < 15 NT and has a reduced ratio at still greater B. This situation suggests that the access of solar wind plasma to the plasma sheet neither requires that the solar wind be magnetized nor benefits therefrom. In contrast, the density of terrestrial O+ ions increases strongly with increasing magnitude of the IMF, in apparent agreement with the notion that the IMF plays a fundamental role in the electric coupling between the solar wind and the ionosphere. Unlike the AE index, the O+ density is only marginally higher with southward BZ, however.
Comparison of plasma sheet ion composition with the IMF and solar wind plasma
Advances in Space Research ; 8 , 9-10 ; 135-138
1989-01-01
4 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
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