Imaging the magnetosphere using ISEE-1 spacecraft potential

• The potential of ISEE 1 spacecraft has been used to derived the plasma density in the magnetosphere and its environment. First we show that using the equilibrium of currents flowing in and out of a spacecraft, we could derive numerically a relation between the spacecraft potential and the density of the surrounding plasma. After verifying that this relation was in good agreement with the measurement of the density made by other instruments during selected periods of time, we apply this relation to the spacecraft potential measured continuously from 1977 to 1984 on ISEE-1. An image of the plasma density in the magnetosphere and its environment is obtained as a result. All principal magnetospheric regions are clearly identified, from the solar wind with a density around 5 cm-3 , the magnetosheath around 50 cm-3, the magnetosphere around 1 cm-3, the plasma sheet around 0.5 cm-3 and finally the more tenuous tail lobes below 0.1 cm-3. The plasma density was observed slightly higher on the dawnside than on the dusk side of the magnetosphere. In addition the magnetosheath was closer to the Earth on the dawnside than on the duskside. When the magnetic activity increased (recorded by the AE index), the dayside magnetosphere was compressed/eroded by about 1 to 2 RE while the plasmasphere/inner magnetosphere became quite irregular and expanded in the dawn-midnight and in the dusk-noon sectors. In addition, during high magnetic activity, the plasmasheet at Ygsm = 0 was thicker and denser than at low activity. On the other hand the flanks of the plasmasheet were thinner and less dense during high activity than during low activity.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Geofysik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Geophysics (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)