Electric currents and voltage drops along auroral field lines

✍ Scribed by David P. Stern

• Book ID: 104652195
• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 1983
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 468 KB
• Volume: 34
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0038-6308
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00175286

✦ Synopsis

The current state of knowledge concerning Birkeland currents CJlI) and parallel electric field (Ell) is briefly reviewed. Four types ofjl I are discussed -the primary 'region 1' sheets, the 'region 2' sheets which parallel them and which seem to close in the partial ring current, the cusp currents which appear to correlate with interplanetary By, and the 'Harang filament'. The energy required by Eli and by the associated particle acceleration processes seems to be derived from ill ' Much of the evidence for EH comes from particles, from 'inverted V' spectra, rising ion beams and expanded loss cones, while 'conics' may signify acceleration by Electrostatic Ion Cyclotron (EIC) waves, associated with beams accelerated by Ell. Different theoretical studies predict for Ell a smooth, disordered or abrupt structure, and evidence for all 3 types can be deduced from $3-3 electric field probe observations.