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Polar cap patch segmentation of the tongue of ionization in the morning convection cell
journal contribution
posted on 2014-04-08, 15:11 authored by Q. H. Zhang, B. C. Zhang, J. Moen, M. Lockwood, I. W. McCrea, H. G. Yang, H. Q. Hu, R. Y. Liu, S. R. Zhang, Mark LesterTwo types of poleward moving plasma concentration
enhancements (PMPCEs) were observed during a sequence
of pulsed reconnection events, both in the morning
convection cell: Type L (low density) was associated with a
cusp flow channel and seems likely to have been produced
by ionization associated with particle precipitation, while
Type H (high density) appeared to originate from the
segmentation of the tongue of ionization by the processes
which produced the Type L events. As a result, the Type L
and Type H PMPCEs were interspersed, producing a
complex density structure which underlines the importance
of cusp flow channels as a mechanism for segmenting and
structuring electron density in the cusp and shows the
necessity of differentiating between at least two classes of
electron density patches.
Funding
STFC grant ST/H002480/1
History
Citation
Geophysical Research Letters, 2013, 40 (12), pp. 2918-2922Author affiliation
/Organisation/COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING/Department of Physics and AstronomyVersion
- VoR (Version of Record)