FIELD-ALIGNED CURRENT OBSERVED ON ISEE-2 IN THE INNER MAGNETOSPHERE

• Main Authors: Xu, R. G., Wang, Z. D., Xie, L. X., Yang, L., 北京8701信箱
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: 1995
• Subjects: Field-aligned Currents; Magnetosphere; Earths; Geomagnetic Pole
• Online Access: http://ir.nssc.ac.cn/handle/122/1552

Field-aligned currents in the inner magnetosphere are studied by using ISEE-2 magnetometer data. A method is proposed to calculate del x B with single-satellite data. From the morphology of del x B in time (or L), a lot of large fluctuations are found in del x B near L = 5.5R(E) corresponding to the field-aligned currents. Statistical study shows that the field-aligned current in the inner magnetosphere is a function of B, L, MLT and AL. The region of the projections of del x B along the magnetic field line onto the ionosphere is not symmetrical for the geomagnetic pole. The inner boundary is independent of the geomagnetic disturbance, but during substorms the outer boundary shifts equatorward. The spatial distribution of the in- and out-flowing currents is complicated. The region-1-and-2 system is hardly distinguishable.