Combined Sounding Rocket and SuperDarn/EISCAT Radar Observations of Plasma Convection, Shear, Irregularities and other Phenomena in the Cusp and Boundary Layer during IMF Bz Negative and By Negative Conditions

HR: 10:20h
AN: SM51D-01 INVITED [PDF]
TI: Combined Sounding Rocket and SuperDarn/EISCAT Radar Observations of Plasma Convection, Shear, Irregularities and other Phenomena in the Cusp and Boundary Layer during IMF Bz Negative and By Negative Conditions
AU: * Pfaff, R F
EM: Robert.F.Pfaff@nasa.gov
AF: NASA/GSFC, Mail Code 696, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AU: Steigies, C
AF: NASA/GSFC, Mail Code 696, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AU: Acuna, M
AF: NASA/GSFC, Mail Code 696, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AU: Freudenreich, H
AF: NASA/GSFC, Mail Code 696, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AU: Yeoman, T
AF: Univ. of Leicester, Dept. of Physics, Leicester, LE1 7RH United Kingdom
AU: Milan, S
AF: Univ. of Leicester, Dept. of Physics, Leicester, LE1 7RH United Kingdom
AU: Lester, M
AF: Univ. of Leicester, Dept. of Physics, Leicester, LE1 7RH United Kingdom
AU: Sandholt, P E
AF: Univ. of Oslo, Dept. of Physics POB 1048 Blindern, Oslo, 3N-0316 Norway
AU: Oksavik, K
AF: Univ. of Oslo, Dept. of Physics POB 1048 Blindern, Oslo, 3N-0316 Norway
AU: Moen, J
AF: Univ. of Oslo, Dept. of Physics POB 1048 Blindern, Oslo, 3N-0316 Norway
AU: Clemmons, J
AF: Aerospace Corp., 270 Coral Circle, El Segundo, CA 90245 United States
AU: Slocum, P
AF: Aerospace Corp., 270 Coral Circle, El Segundo, CA 90245 United States
AU: Knudsen, D
AF: Univ. of Calgary, 2500 University Drive N.W., Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4 Canada
AU: Burchill, J
AF: Univ. of Calgary, 2500 University Drive N.W., Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4 Canada
AU: Coplan, M
AF: Univ. of Maryland, 3225 Computer & Space Sciences Bldg., College Park, MD 20742 United States
AU: Gross, A
AF: Univ. of Maryland, 3225 Computer & Space Sciences Bldg., College Park, MD 20742 United States
AU: Deferaudy, H
AF: CETP, 10/12 Ave de L'Europe, Velizy, 78140 France
AU: Rezeau, L
AF: CETP, 10/12 Ave de L'Europe, Velizy, 78140 France
AU: Fontaine, D
AF: CETP, 10/12 Ave de L'Europe, Velizy, 78140 France
AU: Pincon, J
AF: LPCL, 3a, Ave. de la Recherche Scientifique, Orleans, 45071 France
AU: Krasnosselskikh, V
AF: LPCL, 3a, Ave. de la Recherche Scientifique, Orleans, 45071 France
AU: Delory, G
AF: Univ. of California, SSL, Berkeley, CA 94720 United States
AU: Basu, S
AF: AFRL, 29 Randolph Road, Hanscom AFB, MA 01731 United States
AB: On December 14, 2002, a NASA Black Brant X sounding rocket was launched equatorward from Ny Alesund, Spitzbergen (79 deg. N) into the dayside cusp and subsequently cut across the open/closed field line boundary, reaching an apogee of 771 km. The launch occurred during Bz negative conditions with strong By negative that was changing during the flight. SuperDarn (CUTLASS) radar and subsequent model patterns reveal a strong westward/poleward convection, indicating that the rocket traversed a rotational reversal in the afternoon merging cell. The payload returned DC electric and magnetic fields, plasma waves, energetic particle, suprathermal electron and ion, and thermal plasma data. We provide an overview of the main observations and focus on the DC electric field results, comparing the measured E x B plasma drifts in detail with the CUTLASS radar observations of plasma drifts gathered simultaneously in the same volume. The in situ DC electric fields reveal steady poleward flows within the cusp with strong shears at the interface of the closed/open field lines and within the boundary layer. We use the observations to discuss ionospheric signatures of the open/closed character of the cusp/low latitude boundary layer as a function of the IMF. The electric field and plasma density data also reveal the presence of very strong plasma irregularities with a large range of scales (10 m to 10 km) that exist within the open field line cusp region yet disappear when the payload was equatorward of the cusp on closed field lines. These intense low frequency wave observations are consistent with strong scintillations observed on the ground at Ny Alesund during the flight. We present detailed wave characteristics and discuss them in terms of Alfven waves and static irregularities that pervade the cusp region at all altitudes.
DE: 2407 Auroral ionosphere (2704)
DE: 2411 Electric fields (2712)
DE: 2439 Ionospheric irregularities
DE: 2724 Magnetopause, cusp, and boundary layers
DE: 2736 Magnetosphere/ionosphere interactions
SC: SPA - Magnetospheric Physics [SM]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting