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Sarris et al. 1981
Sarris, E.T., Krimigis, S.M., Lui, A.T.Y., Ackerson, K.L., Frank, L.A. and Williams, D.J. (1981). Relationship between energetic particles and plasmas in the distant plasma sheet. Geophysical Research Letters 8: doi: 10.1029/GL008i004p00349. issn: 0094-8276.

Measurements of ions from three different instruments on the IMP-7 and 8 spacecraft are combined to yield with differential energy spectra of ions over the entire energy range of ~100 eV to 4 MeV in the earth's distant (~30 to ~40 Re) plasma sheet. These spectra, obtained during times of relatively small bulk flow velocities, span the intensity range from ~10-5 to 105 (cm2sec sr keV)-1, varying smoothly over the entire energy range both when the plasma is cold (~1 keV) and hot (~9 keV). Overall, the shape of the spectrum resembles a Maxwellian but with a high energy (>50 keV) tail described well by a power law (∝E-7). The high energy tail is displaced in a parallel fashion to higher or lower intensities when the plasma is hot or cold, respectively. The transition between the Maxwellian and the power law occurs at E?(&ggr;+1)kT. It is found that the energetic particle populations in the plasma sheet appear to be directly related to the mean thermal energies of the corresponding plasmas.

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Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
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American Geophysical Union
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