Annales Geophysicae
Annales Geophysicae
ANGEO
Articles | Volume 19, issue 3
Articles | Volume 19, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-19-389-2001
© Author(s) 2001. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-19-389-2001
© Author(s) 2001. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Articles | Volume 19, issue 3
31 Mar 2001
 | 31 Mar 2001

Letter to the Editor
Low-frequency electric field fluctuations and field-aligned electron beams around the edge of an auroral acceleration region

W. Miyake, R. Yoshioka, A. Matsuoka, T. Mukai, and T. Nagatsuma

Abstract. Electron beams narrowly collimated to the magnetic field line were observed continuously from a down-ward current region to an auroral acceleration region (i.e., upward current region). They were well correlated with low-frequency electric field fluctuations in the auroral acceleration region as well as in the adjacent downward current region. Magnetic field fluctuations were found only in the downward current region. The analysis suggests that static field-aligned electric fields are not fully responsible for the filed-aligned electron acceleration; the ac electric field, presumably associated with Alfvenic fluctuations, should also be involved in the acceleration of ionospheric electrons.

Key words. Ionosphere (particle acceleration) – Magnetospheric physics (auroral phenomena; magnetosphere-ionosphere interactions)

How to cite. Miyake, W., Yoshioka, R., Matsuoka, A., Mukai, T., and Nagatsuma, T.: Letter to the Editor
Low-frequency electric field fluctuations and field-aligned electron beams around the edge of an auroral acceleration region, Ann. Geophys., 19, 389–393, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-19-389-2001, 2001.