DE-1 phase 3 extended mission data analysis of Dynamics Explorer retarding ion mass spectrometer flight data
Field-aligned motion of ionospheric ions at a low altitudes and different pitch angle distributions of ionospheric ions at high altitudes were studied. The objective is twofold: (1) to discover the degree to which observations made by Dynamics Explorer 1 (DE-1) and DE-2 agree when taken in the same ionospheric volume; (2) to understand the processes operating along a magnetic field tube connecting DE-1 and DE-2 that allow a reconciliation of the two data sets. A second investigation has two facets; to reconcile the observed occurrence of ionospheric ions at high altitudes with a point source injection in the ionosphere and subsequent E x B drift, and to reconcile the observed fluxes of ionospheric ions at high altitudes with the measured upward flux at low altitudes. An understanding of the effects of E x B drift molten on the dispersion of ionospheric ions is attained.