ePubs

The open archive for STFC research publications

Full Record Details

Persistent URL http://purl.org/net/epubs/work/65991
Record Status Checked
Record Id 65991
Title Re-ordered electron data in the low-latitude boundary layer
Contributors
Abstract The authors have made a complete survey of all electron data recorded during low-latitude boundary layer crossings of the AMPTE-UKS spacecraft. In 27 of the 31 cases there is a clear anticorrelation between the density and the mean energy of the electrons during the transition across the boundary layer. The simplest interpretation of this anticorrelation is that, in the majority of cases, there is a smooth change of plasma state between the bounding solar and terrestrial plasmas, and that the abrupt changes frequently seen in time series data arise from boundary layer motions. The data indicate that there are always two distinct sections to the anticorrelation. They suggest that these represent two physically distinct regions within the boundary layer and indicate how electron density and energy might vary across them. They briefly discuss an alternative interpretation in which filaments of magnetosheath plasma penetrate the boundary layer. They show that the results provide a constraint on such a model.
Organisation SSTD , SERC
Keywords
Funding Information
Related Research Object(s):
Licence Information:
Language English (EN)
Type Details URI(s) Local file(s) Year
Journal Article Geophys Res Lett 17, no. 11 (1990): 2043-2046. doi:10.1029/GL017i011p02043 1990