High-Altitude Observations of an Intense Inverted-V Event.

Abstract

Inverted-V events which generally occur in the pre-midnight sector over the auroral zone are frequently associated with reversals in the convection electric field. Such a reversal is observed by the University of Iowa quadrispherical LEPEDEA on board ISEE-1 at an altitude of 13 RE on 1 May 1978. The bulk of the plasma shows a large shear over a five-minute interval. The associated change in the convection electric field is 5.1 mV m-1. Large values of the field-aligned current are simultaneously detected. The potential structure appears to extend to the satellite location. Using a theoretical model we have calculated the field-aligned current due to the electric field discontinuity. The magnitude of the parallel potential drop and width of the inverted-V region agree well with observation. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 1983
Accession Number
ADA130467

Entities

People

  • C. Y. Huang
  • Louis A. Frank
  • T. E. Eastman

Organizations

  • University of Iowa

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Altitude
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Boundary Layer
  • Charged Particles
  • Convection
  • Current Density
  • Detectors
  • Discontinuities
  • Electric Fields
  • Electron Density
  • Electron Flux
  • Electrons
  • High Altitude
  • High Energy
  • Low Altitude
  • Magnetic Fields
  • Spacecraft

Readers

  • Mathematics or Statistics
  • Space/Atmospheric Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster