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| Titel |
The Plasmasphere Boundary Layer |
| VerfasserIn |
D. L. Carpenter, J. Lemaire |
| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| ISSN |
0992-7689
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| Digitales Dokument |
URL |
| Erschienen |
In: Annales Geophysicae ; 22, no. 12 ; Nr. 22, no. 12 (2004-12-22), S.4291-4298 |
| Datensatznummer |
250015091
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 copernicus.org/angeo-22-4291-2004.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
As an inner magnetospheric phenomenon the plasmapause region is of
interest for a number of reasons, one being the occurrence there
of geophysically important interactions between the plasmas of the
hot plasma sheet and of the cool plasmasphere. There is a need for
a conceptual framework within which to examine and discuss these
interactions and their consequences, and we therefore suggest that
the plasmapause region be called the Plasmasphere Boundary Layer,
or PBL. Such a term has been slow to emerge because of the
complexity and variability of the plasma populations that can
exist near the plasmapause and because of the variety of criteria
used to identify the plasmapause in experimental data.
Furthermore, and quite importantly in our view, a substantial
obstacle to the consideration of the plasmapause region as a boundary
layer has been the longstanding tendency of textbooks on space
physics to limit introductory material on the plasmapause
phenomenon to zeroth order descriptions in terms of ideal MHD
theory, thus implying that the plasmasphere is relatively well
understood. A textbook may introduce the concept of shielding of
the inner magnetosphere from perturbing convection electric
fields, but attention is not usually paid to the variety of
physical processes reported to occur in the PBL, such as heating,
instabilities, and fast longitudinal flows, processes which must
play roles in plasmasphere dynamics in concert with the flow
regimes associated with the major dynamo sources of electric
fields. We believe that through the use of the PBL concept in future
textbook discussions of the plasmasphere and in scientific
communications, much progress can be made on longstanding
questions about the physics involved in the formation of the
plasmapause and in the cycles of erosion and recovery of the
plasmasphere.
Key words. Magnetospheric physics (plasmasphere; plasma
convection; MHD waves and instabilities) |
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