Engineering topics

Mozer, F. S.

Publications and source records attributed to Mozer, F. S..

At least 55 records · Page 3

NASA NTRS1985

Electric fields and convection velocities associated with flux transfer events

A survey of the electric field and (E x B)/B-squared convection velocities associated with 23 flux transfer events (FTEs) in the magnetosheath and magnetosphere is presented. Twelve-second averaged electric field data show perturbations in the component of the electric field perpendicular to the magnetopause, with an average magnitude of 3.5 mV/m associated with the FTEs. Direct flux transfer events have a northward, and reverse flux transfer events a southward, E x B velocity component, in agreement with the current FTE model. The flux tubes moved across the magnetopause plane at an average E x B speed of 125 km/s with respect to the ambient E x B flow, with events located on the dawn (dusk) side tending to move downward (duskward). No large spiky electric fields of the type observed elsewhere in the magnetosphere were detected.

Dailey, R.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Large electric fields in the magnetosphere

The Langmuir solitonlike structures which contain plasma frequency oscillations of 500 mV/m and parallel electric fields of about 100 mV/m, observed in the auroral zone below 1000 km, are studied. The characteristics of electrostatic shocks that contain perpendicular fields of 1000 mV/m and parallel fields of 100 mV/m, and of double layers that have parallel fields of 10 mV/m are described. Observations of the geomagnetic tail reveal the presence of 100 mV/m turbulent electric fields and 5-10 mV/m quasi-static fields in the high latitude boundary of the plasma sheet, and inside the plasma sheet fields of 5-10 mV/m are detected. The large amplitude quasi-static electric field fluctuations of 100 mV/m and the dc fields of approximately 5 mV/m observed in the bow shock are examined.

Mozer, F. S.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Electric fields in the plasma sheet and plasma sheet boundary layer

Results obtained by Forbes et al. (1981) on the basis of time delay measurements between ISEE 1 and ISEE 2 imply that the plasma flow and the boundary contracting velocity were nearly the same, whereas the expanding boundary velocity was not accompanied by any significant plasma sheet plasma motion. In the present study, this observation is discussed in conjunction with electric field data. The study is based on electric field data from the spherical double probe experiment on ISEE 1. Electric field data from GEOS 2 are used to some extent to monitor the electric fields near the geostationary orbit during the considered eve nts. Electric field data during CDAW 6 events are discussed, taking into account positions of ISEE 1/ISEE 2 and GEOS 2; March 22, 0600-1300 UT; and March 22, UT; and March 31, 1400-2400 UT.

Pedersen, A.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Electric fields in the plasma sheet and plasma sheet boundary layer

Data from the spherical double probe electric-field experiment on ISEE-1 were used to study plasmasheet/lobe boundary crossings during substorms, identified by plasma measurements and by using the electric field probes as a reference for measurements of the spacecraft potential. There are strong electric fields, with a dominant dawn-to-dusk component, throughout the boundary layer outside the plasmasheet for contracting and expanding motions of the plasmasheet and for different magnetic field directions. Characteristic amplitudes and durations are 5 to 10 mV/m and 5 to 15 min. The corresponding E x B vectors are always towards the plasmasheet.

Pedersen, A.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Observations of double layer-like and soliton-like structures in the ionosphere

Two types of large electric field signatures, individual pulses and pulse trains, were observed on a sounding rocket launched into the afternoon auroral zone on January 21, 1982. The typical electric fields in the individual pulses were 50 mV/m or larger, aligned mostly parallel to B, and the corresponding potentials were at leat 100 mV (kT approximately 0.3 eV). A lower limit of 15 km/sec can be set on the velocity of these structures, indicating that they were not ion acoustic double layers. The pulse trains, each consisting of on the order of 100 pulses, were observed in close association with intense plasma frequency waves. This correlation is consistent with the interpretation of these trains as Langmuir solitons. The pulse trains correlate better with the intensity of the field-aligned currents than with the energetic electron flux.

Boehm, M. H.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Electric field evidence on the viscous interaction at the magnetopause

Dusk-to-dawn electric fields just inside the magnetospause have been suggested to be the products of either a viscous interaction or other processes occurring in a closed magnetosphere. Attention is accordingly given to electric field measurements conducted during 28 crossings of the magnetopause by the ISEE 1 satellite, within 2 hours of local dusk, in 1980. Although dusk-to-dawn fields containing potentials of a few kV were often observed, it is concluded that less than 10 percent of the typical magnetospheric potential resulted from viscous interaction or similar processes.

Mozer, F. S.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Substorm electric fields in the earth's magnetotail

A survey has been made of all the electric field data from the University of California, Berkeley, double probe experiment on ISEE-1 (apogee approximately 22 earth radii) during 1980 when the satellite was in the magnetotail. This study was restricted to the 74 events where E cross B flows could be calculated and were equal to or greater than 100 km/s. Substorm times were determined by examining the Ae index for peaks equal to or greater than 250 gamma. In association with substorms, approximately 70 percent of the flows were earthward, and approximately 20 percent had a signature called 'near satellite reconnection' (first described by Nishida et al. (1983) of tailward flow followed by earthward flow which can be interpreted in terms of a model where the x-line forms earthward of the satellite and subsequently propagates tailward of X(GSM) = -21 earth radii and within the absolute value of Y(GSM) equal to or less than 4.5 earth radii. These data suggest that the near earth x-line usually forms tailward of X(GSM) approximately -20 earth radii.

Cattell, C. A.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Electric field evidence for tailward flow at substorm onset

Electric field observations made near the neutral sheet of the magnetotail provide additional support for the view that reconnection occurs in the near-earth region of the tail. Southward turnings of the magnetic field that start at, or shortly after, substorm onsets are accompanied by enhancements in the dawn-to-dusk electric field, resulting in a tailward E x B drift velocity. Both the magnetic and the electric fields in the tailward-flowing plasma are nonuniform and vary with inferred spatial scales of several earth radii in the events examined in this paper. These nonuniformities may be the consequence of the tearing-mode process. The E x B flow was also towards the neutral sheet and away from midnight in the events studied.

Nishida, A.↗

NASA NTRS1983

A statistical study of large electric field events in the earth's magnetotail

A statistical study of large electric field events, measured on ISEE 1 at geocentric distances of 3 to 23 earth radii, has been performed in order to determine the occurrence frequency and spatial distribution of such events. Large electric fields were seen at all altitudes, with the lowest altitude events occurring on auroral field lines and the higher altitude events occurring on the high latitude boundary of the plasma sheet. The largest events had amplitudes that were approximately proportional to the square root of the local magnetic field strength, in agreement with expectations of a simple mapping model. The apparent concentration of big field events near local midnight is caused, at least in part, by a nonuniform frequency of satellite crossings through the plasma sheet boundary as a function of local time. Thus, the spatial distribution and amplitudes of the large field events are not inconsistent with the mapping of low-altitude electrostatic shocks to the plasma sheet boundary along equipotential magnetic field lines.

Levin, S.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Comparison of spherical double probe electric field measurements with plasma bulk flows in plasmas having densities less than 1 cm-3

For a three-hour period in the magnetotail over which plasma density varied from less than 0.1 to about 1/cu cm, comparisons of ISEE-1 spherical double probe (dawn to dusk) electric field measurements and ISEE-2 plasma flows (converted to electric fields) show the zero lag cross correlation coefficient between 768 second averages of the two data sets to have been 0.93. A statistical relative uncertainty between pairs of points in the two data sets, estimated by only including counting statistics in the plasma measurement and time variations of the observed electric field over the measurement interval, is able to account for at least 75 percent of the deviations between the two data sets. In agreement with simple Langmuir probe theory, it has been found that the spacecraft potential measured over the three-hour interval by the double probe instrument varied as the log of the product of the plasma density and the square root of the electron temperature.

Mozer, F. S.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Electric fields measured by ISEE-1 within and near the neutral sheet during quiet and active times

An understanding of the physical processes occurring in the magnetotail and plasmasheet during different interplanetary magnetic field orientations and differing levels of ground magnetic activity is crucial for the development of a theory of energy transfer from the solar wind to the particles which produce auroral arcs. In the present investigation, the first observations of electric fields during neutral sheet crossings are presented, taking into account the statistical correlations of the interplanetary magnetic field direction and ground activity with the character of the electric field. The electric field data used in the study were obtained from a double probe experiment on the ISEE-1 satellite. The observations suggest that turbulent electric and magnetic fields are intimately related to plasma acceleration in the neutral sheet and to the processes which create auroral particles.

Cattell, C. A.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Observations of large electric fields near the plasmasheet boundary by ISEE-1

Large electric field spikes of up to about 80 mV/m, at distances of seven to 23 earth radii, were detected within one minute of encountering the high-altitude plasma sheet boundary, as identified by energetic particle detectors. If these high-altitude events, whose strong electric fields occur in enhanced low-frequency turbulence and field-aligned current flow regions and are individually well-correlated with small-scale gradients in particle fluxes and small-scale currents, are mappings of the low-altitude electrostatic shocks, these data may be taken as evidence that poleward auroral field lines map to the boundary of the plasma sheet.

Cattell, C. A.↗

NASA NTRS1981

The small-scale structure of electrostatic shocks

It is noted that small-scale regions of large electric fields have been observed above the auroral zone by the S3-3 satellite. The data from five such electrostatic shocks are examined in great detail. The three higher altitude shocks (all above 5,700 km) are found to be associated with upward-going ion beams, indicating that the potential associated with the shock closed below the satellite to give rise to the parallel electric field required for the acceleration of the ion beam. In all these cases, electrostatic ion cyclotron waves are found to be adjacent to the shock and to extend throughout the upward-going ion beam region. The lack of noticeable Doppler shift in the electrostatic ion cyclotron waves in association with large convective drift velocities is seen as indicating that the wavelength of the electrostatic ion cyclotron wave can be several kilometers and that the potential difference within the wave can be on the order of 100 V.

Temerin, M.↗

NASA NTRS1981

ISEE-1 observations of electrostatic shocks on auroral zone field lines between 2.5 and 7 earth radii

The ISEE-1 satellite frequently passes through electrostatic shocks and the low altitude auroral particle acceleration region at geocentric radial distances less than approximately 7 earth radii and as low as greater than or equal to 2 earth radii. A sampling of data from the quasi-static electric field experiment during 22 such passes revealed events (defined as regions of low frequency turbulence) containing electrostatic shocks (defined as an electric field greater than or equal to 100 mV/m) during eight of the passes, which is an occurrence frequency comparable to that obtained near apogee on the S3-3 satellite. Examination of three such electrostatic shocks shows that typical potentials of a few kV and latitudinal scale widths mapped to the ionosphere of a few km are encountered. From the latitudinal widths of the shocks and from the magnitudes of their observed electric fields, it is argued that the parallel electric field and auroral particle acceleration region may be confined to geocentric distances less than a few earth radii.

Mozer, F. S.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Sounding rocket research Aries/Firewheel, series 22, issue 15

Rocket experiments in ionospheric particle and field research flow in seven programs during the last decade are summarized. Experimental techniques were developed and are discussed including the double-probe field technique. The auroral zone, polar cap, and equatorial spread F were studied.

Mozer, F. S.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Electric fields in the dayside auroral oval

The results from four independent electric field experiments flown on three Black Brant 4 rockets in the forenoon dayside auroral oval in December 1974 and January 1975 are correlated with ground-based observations and rocket particle data. The electric field varied from zero to 150 mV/m. The predominant plasma convection was toward noon along the auroral oval with a smaller component directed toward the polar cap. In one case, however, a reversal occurred within the oval with plasma convection away from noon. Comparisons with magnetometer data indicate that in the dayside auroral oval, Hall currents sometimes are responsible for magnetic fluctuations observed on the ground. Comparisons with particle data show that the magnitude of the electric fields is inversely correlated with the electron energy flux.

Jorgensen, T. S.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Direct observation of a tangential electric field component at the magnetopause

Results are presented for direct, in situ measurements of the quasi-static electric field at and near the magnetopause, in the magnetosheath, bow shock, and solar wind, obtained by the ISEE-1 satellite. Both the large-scale average electric field and the fine-scale field observed during a magnetopause crossing show the existence of significant tangential electric field components on both sides of the magnetopause. The data in the satellite frame also show significant normal electric field components that point toward the magnetopause on both sides. The observed local level of power dissipation would correspond to a total power of 1 TW, if it existed over the entire front of the magnetopause.

Mozer, F. S.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Spacecraft potential control on ISEE-1

Active control of the potential of the ISEE-1 satellite by the use of electron guns is reviewed. The electron guns contain a special cathode capable of emitting an electron current selectable between 10 to the -8th power and 10 to the -3rd power at energies from approximately .6 to 41 eV. Results obtained during flight show that the satellite potential can be stabilized at a value more positive than the normally positive floating potential. The electron guns also reduce the spin modulation of the spacecraft potential which is due to the aspect dependent photoemission of the long booms. Plasma parameters like electron temperature and density can be deduced from the variation of the spacecraft potential as a function of the gun current. The effects of electron beam emission on other experiments are briefly mentioned.

Gonfalone, A.↗