ON CURRENTS PRODUCING THE MAIN PHASE OF A MAGNETIC STORM,
Abstract
The location of the magnetic anomaly detected with Mechta I coupled with other considerations suggests that the current flowing in the outer Van Allen belt has a distribution with maxima at 25 degrees north and south geomagnetic latitude, and at a geocentric altitude of about 3 earth radii. A current of this type could produce the equatorial and middle-latitude surface variations observed during the main phase of a magnetic storm, variations which (as is well known) could also be due to a current, such as a ring current, with a maximum in the equatorial plane. In the region above the earth's surface the fields of the two types of current distributions are substantially different and hence readily distinguishable. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 08, 1961
- Accession Number
- AD0658380
Entities
People
- Alfred J. Zmuda
Organizations
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory