Abstract
Magnetospheric physics has been and continues to be primarily an observational science, aided and guided by theory. However, increasing emphasis is being given to active experiments for the purpose of clarifying specific phenomena in the magnetospheric plasma. The earliest global scale experiments were the production of artificial radiation belts by high altitude nuclear bomb bursts in 1958–62 and the observation of their geophysical effects. Other active experiments involve the injection of ionized clouds of exotic vapors, the decay products of radioactive sources, and beams of artificially accelerated ions and electrons at selected points in the magnetosphere. The effects of such perturbations of the natural situation as well as those of very low frequency radio waves have been observed by sophisticated diagnostic instrumentation. The in situ determination of the ambient electric field point-by-point in the auroral zone is one of the most important and difficult undertakings. This paper reviews the achievements of active experiments and their future promise.
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Van Allen, J.A. (1990). Active Experiments in Magnetospheric Physics. In: Hultqvist, B., Fälthammar, CG. (eds) Magnetospheric Physics. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7376-0_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7376-0_2
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