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Kaufmann et al. 2001
Kaufmann, R.L., Ball, B.M., Paterson, W.R. and Frank, L.A. (2001). Plasma sheet thickness and electric currents. Journal of Geophysical Research 106: doi: 10.1029/2000JA000284. issn: 0148-0227.

Two years of Geotail data in the (-30E region first were sorted into (x, y, &bgr;) boxes. Direct measurements of the average electron and ion current densities, symmetry assumptions, and the momentum equation were used to get three different estimates of the electric current in each box. The momentum equation method gave the most consistent results, while the other two methods provided complementary information about particle drifts. The average common drift of electrons and ions was found to be comparable to the average differential drift of ions with respect to electrons. These two components of the ion drift velocity tended to cancel on the dawnside, resulting in currents that were primarily carried by electrons moving at the common drift speed. The two ion drifts added on the duskside where ions carried most of the cross-tail current. The particle and magnetic field measurements were used to estimate the z thickness of each &bgr; box. A concentration of the long-term-averaged cross-tail current was seen near the neutral sheet. The region of nonadiabatic orbital motion had an average characteristic length scale of ~0.4 RE. The principal plasma sheet extended to ~2.5 RE from the neutral sheet at midnight and to ~5 RE in the flanks. The final result is a method to create models in (x, y, z) coordinates of the long-term-averaged values of any of the measured fluid parameters or fields. The isotropic portion of the pressure tensor was used as an example of one parameter that can be modeled. These pressure plots showed that the x component of the long-term-averaged magnetic field line tension force is important everywhere, that the z component is small everywhere, and that the y component is significant in the flanks. ¿ 2001 American Geophysical Union

BACKGROUND DATA FILES

Abstract

Keywords
Magnetospheric Physics, Current systems, Magnetospheric Physics, Magnetotail, Magnetospheric Physics, Plasma convection, Magnetospheric Physics, Plasma sheet
Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research
http://www.agu.org/journals/jb/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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