Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “MAGNETOSPHERE”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 505 records · Page 28
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1992

A numerical code for a three-dimensional magnetospheric MHD equilibrium model

Two dimensional and three dimensional MHD equilibrium models were begun for Earth's magnetosphere. The original proposal was motivated by realizing that global, purely data based models of Earth's magnetosphere are inadequate for studying the underlying plasma physical principles according to which the magnetosphere evolves on the quasi-static convection time scale. Complex numerical grid generation schemes were established for a 3-D Poisson solver, and a robust Grad-Shafranov solver was coded for high beta MHD equilibria. Thus, the effects were calculated of both the magnetopause geometry and boundary conditions on the magnetotail current distribution.

Voigt, G.-H.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Plasma waves in planetary magnetospheres

The plasma wave spectra are presented for the magnetospheres of five planets (the earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune). A general comparison of the various plasma wave modes at each of the planets is provided using a common format for displaying the spectra. Results show that, in spite of great differences in the magnetospheres' sizes, heliocentric distances, energy sources, plasma sources, and magnetic dipole orientations between different planets, many of the same types of wave modes are present in each of the five magnetospheres. However, there are great differences in the relative and absolute intensity of some of the wave modes.

Kurth, W. S.↗
NASA NTRS1991

The magnetosphere of Neptune - Hot plasmas and energetic particles

An overview is presented of the hot plasmas and energetic (not less than 20 keV) particles observed in the vicinity of Neptune by the Low Energy Charged Particle (LECP) experiment aboard the Voyager 2 spacecraft. The LECP findings are presented on the shock, the magnetosheath, the magnetopause, and the cusp of the Neptune's magnetosphere; the middle magnetosphere; the inner magnetosphere and material interactions; the magnetotail and the substorms; and the characteristics of Triton's plasma. It is shown that, in sharp contrast to the Uranian magnetotail, the Neptunian magnetotail shows no evidence of substorm processes.

Mauk, B. H.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Wave-particle interactions in the magnetosphere of Uranus

The Voyager 2 encounter of Uranus has provided observations of plasma waves in and near the magnetosphere. These data, while the first from Uranus, will also be the only direct information on wave-particle interactions at this planet for many years to come. The observations include electrostatic waves upstream of the bow shock, turbulence in the shock Bernstein emissions and whistler mode waves in the magnetosphere, broadband electrostatic noise in the magnetotail, and a number of the other types of plasma waves which have yet to be clearly identified. Each of these types of waves exist in a plasma environment which both supports the growth of the waves and is modified by interactions with the waves. Wave-particle interactions provide the channels through which the waves can accelerate, scatter, or thermalize the plasmas. The most spectacular example in the case of Uranus is the extremely intense whistler mode activity in the inner magnetosphere which is the source of strong pitch angle diffusion. The resulting electron precipitation is sufficient to produce the auroral emissions observed by Voyager. The strong diffusion, however, presents the problem of supplying electrons in the range of 5 to 40 keV in order to support the losses to the atmosphere.

Kurth, W. S.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Advances in magnetospheric storm and substorm research - 1989-1991

Recent advances in magnetospheric storm and substorm research is reviewed, with emphasis on how the large southward fields and high velocities produced in the solar wind influence the magnetosphere and cause the enhanced transfer of energy, momentum, and mass to the magnetosphere. Overwhelming evidence indicates that the southward interplanetary magnetic field is the primary controlling factor in the generation of substorms. The immediate cause of the expansion phase onset is controversial, but the suddenness of the onset is suggestive of an instability that disrupts the cross-tail currents. Measurements increasingly suggest the region of 7-10 R sub E near midnight as the likely point of origin, but it is not clear that the long-popular tearing mode can go unstable this close to the earth, where it may be stabilized by a small northward field component.

Fairfield, D. H.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Thermal plasma in the inner kronian magnetosphere

Since the flybys of the twin Voyager spacecraft through the magnetosphere of Saturn in the early 1980s, conflicting interpretations of the phenomena observed have appeared in the literature. An attempt is made here to constrain the transport rate in the inner magnetosphere by appeal to plasma observations of density and temperature. The conflicting models range from those entailing fast transport, which limits the density, to models in which the ion density is limited by the process of recombination. The coupled differential equations for Coulomb and radiative heat transfer between hot electrons, thermal electrons and thermal heavy ions are solved. It is concluded that diffusive transport is not the dominant factor in determining the plasma state of the inner magnetosphere of Saturn. Support is found for a previously proposed model of a ring source for the cold dense plasma observed by Voyager 2 at the ring plane crossing.

Eviatar, A.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Thunderstorm coupling to the magnetosphere and associated ionospheric effects

This project deals with the coupling of electromagnetic energy released during a thunderstorm to the magnetosphere and the ionosphere. Both the effects of an individual lightning event as well the aggregate of all the lightning events during a thunderstorm are considered. Energy in the very low frequency (VLF) band can play a variety of roles in the magnetospheric and ionospheric physics: generation of plasmaspheric hiss believed to be responsible for the slot region in the radiation belts, generation of lower hybrid waves that can heat ions in the auroral and subauroral regions, precipitation of energetic electrons, ionospheric heating etc. While these phenomena have been identified, and characterized to some extent, the influence and role of thunderstorm energy on the magnetosphere and ionosphere at a global scale is not known. Only recently, simultaneous high resolution (temporal and spatial) data sets from ground based lightning detectors and space and ground based VLF detectors have become available, and thus it has become possible to raise a question of the kind mentioned above and try to answer it quantitatively. Work on the correlation between individual lightning discharges in a thunderstorm as detected by the lightning network and the whistlers observed on the DE-1 satellite continued during this period. Results are summarized.

Inan, Umran S.↗
NASA NTRS1992

A DE-1/whistler study of the thermal plasma structure and dynamics in the dusk bulge sector of the magnetosphere

The objective of this research was to obtain new understanding of the thermal plasma structure and dynamics of the plasmasphere bulge region of the magnetosphere, with special emphasis on the erosion process that results in a reduction in plasmasphere size and on the manner in which erosion leads to the presence of patches of dense plasma in the middle and outer afternoon-dusk magnetosphere. Case studies involving data from the DE 1, GEOS 2, and ISEE 1 satellites and from ground whistler stations Siple, Halley, and Kerguelen were used. A copy of the published paper entitled 'A case study of plasma structure in the dusk sector associated with enhanced magnetospheric convection,' is included.

Carpenter, D. L.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Inner Magnetosphere Imager (IMI) instrument heritage

This report documents the heritage of instrument concepts under consideration for the Inner Magnetosphere Imager (IMI) mission. The proposed IMI will obtain the first simultaneous images of the component regions of the inner magnetosphere and will enable scientists to relate these global images to internal and external influences as well as local observations. To obtain simultaneous images of component regions of the inner magnetosphere, measurements will be made of: (1) the ring current and inner plasma sheet using energetic neutral atoms; (2) the plasmasphere using extreme ultraviolet; (3) the electron and proton auroras using far ultraviolet and x rays; and (4) the geocorona using FUV. Instrument concepts that show heritage and traceability to those that will be required to meet the IMI measurement objectives are described.

Wilson, G. R.↗
NASA NTRS1993

An instability associated with a magnetosphere-disk interaction

The evolution of a thin accretion disk surrounding a rapidly rotating magnetosphere is considered. By taking account of the variations of the magnetospheric boundary in response to the conditions at the inner edge of the disk, we find from linear analysis and numerical computation that the accretion disk can become unstable. Mass can be accreted by the central object in a cyclic fashion, with the cycle involving the storage and release of mass in the inner parts of the disk. The physical origin of the instability is associated with the variations of the magnetospheric boundary about corotation. The recurrence time scale of the cycle can vary by several orders of magnitude depending on the details of the conditions at the magnotosphere. The possible applicability of this instability process to the 'rapid burster' MXB 1730-335 is briefly discussed.

Spruit, H. C.↗
NASA NTRS1992

A global magnetohydrodynamic simulation of the magnetosheath and magnetosphere when the interplanetary magnetic field is northward

We have used a new high-resolution global magnetohydrodynamic simulation model to investigate the configuration of the magnetosphere when the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) is northward. For northward IMF the magnetospheric configuration is dominated by magnetic reconnection at the tail lobe magnetopause tailward of the polar cusp. This results in a local thickening of the plasma sheet equatorward of the region of reconnection and the establishment of a convection system with two cells in each lobe. In the magnetosheath the plasma density and pressure decrease near the subsolar magnetopause, forming a depletion region. Along the flanks of the magnetosphere the magnetosheath flow is accelerated to values larger than the solar wind velocity. The magnetopause shape from the simulations is consistent with the empirically determined shape.

Ogino, Tatsuki↗
NASA NTRS1993

The earth's magnetosphere under continued forcing - Substorm activity during the passage of an interplanetary magnetic cloud

Magnetic field and energetic particle observations from six spacecraft in the near-earth magnetotail are described and combined with ground magnetograms to document for the first time the magnetospheric substorm activity during a 30-hour long transit of an interplanetary cloud at 1 AU. During an earlier 11-hr interval when B(z) was continuously positive, the magnetosphere was quiescent, while in a later 18-hr interval when B(z) was uninterruptedly negative a large magnetic storm was set off. In the latter interval the substorm onsets recurred on average every 50 min. Their average recurrence frequency remained relatively undiminished even when the magnetic cloud B(z) and other measures of the interplanetary energy input decreased considerably. These results concur with current models of magnetospheric substorms based on deterministic nonlinear dynamics. The substorm onset occurred when the cloud's magnetic field had a persistent northward component but was predominantly westward pointing.

Farrugia, C. J.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Field-aligned currents in the Jovian magnetosphere during the Ulysses flyby

The data recorded by the dual vector helium/fluxgate magnetometer flown onboard the Ulysses spacecraft during the flyby of Jupiter in February 1992 are analyzed with the aim of identifying the presence of field-aligned current signatures. Field-aligned current flow is expected wherever stress is being transmitted electromagnetically along the magnetic field direction. Sources of such currents at Jupiter are departures within the magnetosphere from corotation, momentum transfer from the solar wind, or centrifugally driven magnetospheric outflow. It is pointed out that the azimuthal field component provides a simple first-order means of monitoring the presence of currents, the currents occurring in regions where the azimuthal component changes significantly. The data from both inbound and outbound passes show evidence of 'leading' and 'lagging' azimuthal field signatures where the field bends out of the meridian, and which are signatures symptomatic of current systems associated with departures from corotation. On the outbound pass, the most intense signatures are found where the field switches from a configuration symptomatic of the field lagging corotation to a configuration representing the field leading. The latter configuration also corresponds to a tail-like displacement of the field and, indeed, the magnetometer data alone cannot distinguish the source of the current system, which could be due to solar wind magnetosphere coupling or which may arise from internal stress imbalance.

Dougherty, M. K.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves stimulated by modest magnetospheric compressions

AMPTE/CCE magnetic field and particle data are used to test the suggestion that increased hot proton temperature anisotropy resulting from convection during magnetospheric compression is responsible for the enhancement in Pc 1 emission via generation of electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves in the dayside outer equatorial magnetosphere. The relative increase in magnetic field is used to gauge the strength of the compression, and an image dipole model is used to estimate the motion of the plasma during compression. Proton data are used to analyze the evolution of the proton distribution and the corresponding changes in EMIC wave activity expected during the compression. It is suggested that enhancements in dynamic pressure pump the energetic proton distributions in the outer magnetosphere, driving EMIC waves. Waves are expected to be generated most readily close to the magnetopause, and transient pressure pulses may be associated with bursts of EMIC waves, which would be observed on the ground in association with ionospheric transient signatures.

Anderson, B. J.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Well-resolved observations by ISEE 2 of ion dispersion in the magnetospheric cusp

During a prolonged period of southward IMF on October 30, 1978, the ISEE 2 spacecraft observed an unusually prolonged and distinct region of ion energy-time dispersion in the dayside dawn magnetosphere. Observed plasma features included the (1) presence of magnetosheath electrons and initial absence of magnetosheath ions and (2) subsequent arrival and energy-time dispersion of magnetosheath ions as the spacecraft transited outbound from 6.03 to 7.66 Earth radii. We use ISEE 2 ion measurements to illustrate these dispersive time-of-flight effects and to support our interpretation of a location in the north magnetospheric cusp. Ion energy dispersion persists for about 35 min and includes well-resolved sequences of magnetosheath and magnetospheric ion distributions. We focus primarily on observations and time-of-flight analysis of ions from the magnetosheath, which are observed simultaneously entering and exiting the cusp at different energies. We discuss the observational support and shortcomings of various ion injection locations and durations and conclude that quasi-steady merging at the dayside magnetopause, with ion dispersion caused by spacecraft motion away from the last closed field line, is the most likely scenario.

Phillips, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Comment on 'Mapping the dayside ionosphere to the magnetosphere according to particle precipitation characteristics' by Newell and Meng

Newell and Meng (1992) present maps of the occurrence probability of various classifications of particle precipitation as seen in the dayside topside ionosphere. It is argued that these are maps of the magnetospheric regions, a contention with which their critics disagree. The latter conclude that, because of convection, any one population of particles seen at low altitudes will have originated from a wide variety of locations, and particle characteristics cannot be mapped back to those in the magnetosphere without detailed knowledge of both the convection and magnetic field. Steplike boundaries between the regions will arise from nonsteady-state conditions and cannot be envisaged as steady-state magnetospheric boundaries between two plasma populations. In their reply Newell and Meng contend that convection does not move plasma from the LLBL into the cusp. Most of the LLBL plasma comes from the magnetosheath, so the direction of plasma transfer is in the other direction.

Lockwood, M.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Energetic neutral atoms: Imaging the magnetospheric ring current

Magnetospheric imaging is a new discipline whose goal is to make pictures of the energetic particle populations trapped in the magnetic field of Earth (or any other planet). This project demonstrated the technical feasibility and scientific validity of magnetospheric imaging using energetic neutral atoms (ENA) with the publication and quantitative analysis of the first ENA images ever obtained from space. ENA's are produced when singly-charged energetic (approximately 100 keV) trapped ions make an atomic collision with the neutral hydrogen atoms which boil of the top of the Earth's atmosphere. These hydrogen atoms suffuse the entire trapping volume of the magnetosphere. The energetic ion steals the electron from the atmospheric hydrogen, so the energetic ion is transformed into an energetic neutral atom with a velocity of several thousands of kilometers/second. Moreover, the new-born ENA preserves the velocity that the trapped ion had at the time of the collision. Consequently, any population of energetic ions emits ENA's.

Roelof, Edmond C.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Magnetospheric-ionospheric Poynting flux

Over the past three years of funding SRI, in collaboration with the University of Texas at Dallas, has been involved in determining the total electromagnetic energy flux into the upper atmosphere from DE-B electric and magnetic field measurements and modeling the electromagnetic energy flux at high latitudes, taking into account the coupled magnetosphere-ionosphere system. This effort has been very successful in establishing the DC Poynting flux as a fundamental quantity in describing the coupling of electromagnetic energy between the magnetosphere and ionosphere. The DE-B satellite electric and magnetic field measurements were carefully scrutinized to provide, for the first time, a large data set of DC, field-aligned, Poynting flux measurement. Investigations describing the field-aligned Poynting flux observations from DE-B orbits under specific geomagnetic conditions and from many orbits were conducted to provide a statistical average of the Poynting flux distribution over the polar cap. The theoretical modeling effort has provided insight into the observations by formulating the connection between Poynting's theorem and the electromagnetic energy conversion processes that occur in the ionosphere. Modeling and evaluation of these processes has helped interpret the satellite observations of the DC Poynting flux and improved our understanding of the coupling between the ionosphere and magnetosphere.

Thayer, Jeffrey P.↗