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Mall et al. 2002
Mall, U., Christon, S., Kirsch, E. and Gloeckler, G. (2002). On the solar cycle dependence of the N+/O+ content in the magnetosphere and its relation to atomic N and O in the Earth's exosphere. Geophysical Research Letters 29: doi: 10.1029/2001GL013957. issn: 0094-8276.

We investigate a solar cycle dependence of singly charged Nitrogen and Oxygen over a five-year period from 1995--2000 on the nightside of the Earth's magnetosphere using instrumentation on the WIND spacecraft. We show that N+, another heavy ion that is of terrestrial origin, is a large fraction of O+, and it contributes significantly to magnetospheric plasma. We find that the N+/O+ ratio has a solar cycle relationship with a higher value of this ratio at solar minimum than at solar maximum. We examine the N+/O+ ratio against thermospheric N/O MSIS 86 model calculations which exhibit no solar cycle variation.

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Abstract

Keywords
Magnetospheric Physics, Magnetosphere/ionosphere interactions, Magnetospheric Physics, Ring current, Magnetospheric Physics, Magnetosphere--inner, Magnetospheric Physics, Storms and substorms
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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