Plasmaphere and plasmapause region characteristics as measured by DE-1

Abstract

Thermal ion composition measurements by the Retarding Ion Mass Spectrometer (RIMS) on Dynamics Explorer-1 have revealed new and intriguing features of the thermal ion distributions in the plasmasphere and plasmapause regions. Some of the interesting new findings include: the presence of intense fluxes of heated and equatorially-trapped light ions within the plasmapause region; the existence of a heavy ion (0+, 0++, N+) ‘torus’ or ‘shell’ in the outer plasmasphere; and the relatively stable nature of the He+/H+ concentration ratio (∼0.2–0.3) within the plasmasphere. The relatively short (∼7.5 hours) orbital period of DE-1 has also allowed improved observations on the formation of the new outer plasmasphere during the recovery of geomagnetic storms. Statistical studies of plasmaspheric density structure and boundaries are beginning to reveal a picture of their relation to other magnetospheric boundaries, such as the inner edge of the electron plasma sheet, and trends in the internal density structure of the plasmasphere.