ISEE‐3 wave measurements in the distant geomagnetic tail and boundary layer

Abstract

The ISEE‐3 excursion into the distant tail region reveals a complex structure with several wave, particle and field characteristics that differ significantly from those measured closer to earth. The most striking results are found within the distant boundary layer where intense electrostatic turbulence levels are detected in association with bi‐directional electron distributions. The wave amplitudes appear to increase with increasing downstream distance and the polarizations are those expected for ion acoustic oscillations. Near the boundary of the distant plasmas sheet the turbulence spectra are essentially identical to those measured much closer to earth on IMP‐8. We also find that in the distant tail the continuum radiation spectrum has a low frequency cutoff that is much higher than the minimum value for the local plasma frequency.