Articles | Volume 22, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-22-1047-2004
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-22-1047-2004
19 Mar 2004
 | 19 Mar 2004

The solar wind plasma density control of night-time auroral particle precipitation

V. G. Vorobjev, B. V. Rezhenov, and O. I. Yagodkina

Abstract. DMSP F6 and F7 spacecraft observations of the average electron and ion energy, and energy fluxes in different night-time precipitation regions for the whole of 1986 were used to examine the precipitation features associated with solar wind density changes. It was found that during magnetic quietness |AL|<100nT), the enhancement of average ion fluxes was observed at least two times, along with the solar wind plasma density increase from 2 to 24cm–3. More pronounced was the ion flux enhancement that occurred in the b2ib4s and b4sb5 regions, which are approximately corresponding to the statistical auroral oval and map to the magnetospheric plasma sheet tailward of the isotropy boundary. The average ion energy decrease of about 2–4kev was registered simultaneously with this ion flux enhancement. The results verify the occurrence of effective penetration of the solar wind plasma into the magnetospheric tail plasma sheet.

Key words. Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere, particle precipitation) – Magnetospheric physics (solar windmagnetosphere interaction)