Cold Plasma Distribution Above a Few Thousand Kilometers at High Latitudes

Abstract

The launch of the Dynamics Explorer (DE) 1 and 2 spacecraft has permitted the exploration of the earth’s magnetosphere in a way which has never been available before. The unique combination of coplanar orbits which simultaneously sample the low altitude ionospheric and atmospheric signatures (DE-2) and the high altitude phenomena of the inner magnetosphere (DE-1) furnishes new measurements of the coupling of plasmas and fields between these fundamentally important regions. One basic element of the coupling involves the interchange of low energy plasma between the ionosphere and magnetosphere. This interchange or flow of plasma originating in the earth’s ionosphere serves as a basic source of particles for the entire magnetosphere and, combined with the particles of solar wind origin, is responsible for the entire magnetospheric plasma content.