Wave‐particle interactions in the magnetosphere and ionosphere

Abstract

Two distinct aspects of the interaction between waves and particles in the earth's magnetosphere and ionosphere were discussed at the Yosemite Conference on Magnetosphere‐Ionosphere Coupling; these will be briefly reviewed. Intense field‐aligned currents flow between the ionosphere and magnetosphere at auroral latitudes. Under certain conditions these currents can become unstable, permitting potential drops to be established along the field lines. The present status of experimental evidence favoring such parallel electric fields is somewhat controversial. Theoretical models for their origin invoke regions of anomalous resistivity or electrostatic double layers. To date it is impossible to distinguish between these alternatives on the basis of experimental data. The nonadiabatic behavior of magnetospheric ring current particles during geomagnetic storms is largely controlled by wave‐particle processes. During the storm main phase, intense fluctuating convection electric fields are responsible for injecting trapped particles into the outer radiation zone. The outer radiation zone also moves in closer to the earth following the storm time compression of the plasmapause. Simultaneous pitch angle scattering by higher‐frequency plasma turbulence causes precipitation loss near the strong diffusion limit throughout the outer magnetosphere. During the storm recovery phase the plasmapause slowly moves out toward its prestorm location; energetic particle loss at such times appears to be dominated by cyclotron resonant scattering from electromagnetic turbulence.