We have examined ion data associated with 1073 electrostatic shocks (regions of large perpendicular electric field) below 8000 km altitude and have found that at least 85% of these shocks are associated with upflowing ions in the form of either ion beams or ion conics. Analysis of these data indicates that significant differences exist between the distributions of shocks associated with ion beams and shocks associated with ion conics. Shocks associated with ion beams are concentrated in the evening, while shocks associated with ion conics are observed with comparable frequency at all MLTs. Although both types of shocks are seen more frequently at higher altitudes than at lower altitudes, the probability of seeing a shock increases more rapidly with altitude for shocks associated with ion beams than for shocks associated with ion conics. Shocks associated with ion beams have not been seen below 3000 km. Shocks associated with ion beams have, on the average, larger electric fields than shocks associated with ion conics. Furthermore, the average electric field tends to increase with altitude for shocks associated with ion beams. Shocks are far more likely to occur with ion conics rather than with ion beams during periods of high Kp. Ion beams associated with electrostatic shocks typically have higher energies than ion conics associated with electrostatic shocks.

Also, examination of the energy spectra of electrons associated with these events revealed that 86% of the electrostatic shocks associated with ion beams have peak electron energies above 360 eV, while 66% of the electrostatic shocks associated with ion conics have peak electron energies below 360 eV. The average peak electron energy is somewhat higher than the peak ion energy. Most shocks associated with ion beams are either S shocks or V shocks. Although the peak ion energy of the ion beam is typically larger than the potential through the shock, there is a fair correlation between the two. The direction of the electric field of the shocks is strongly correlated with the location of the ion beam. Of the shocks associated with ion beams, V shocks have the largest and most coherent structures, followed by S shocks and embedded shocks. Shocks associated with ion conics have smaller and less coherent structures than shocks associated with ion beams. The invariant latitude magnetic local time distribution of electrostatic shocks approximates an offset circle with a radius that has a linear dependence on Kp and an offset that is inversely related to Kp.