Average plasma properties in the central plasma sheet
Publication date: 02 May 1989
Authors: Baumjohann, W. et al.
Journal: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volume: 94
Page: 6597-6606
Year: 1989
Copyright: American Geophysical Union
A statistical study on the behaviors of ion and electron moments in the central plasma sheet was carried out using tail data obtained by the three-dimensional plasma instrument on board the AMPTE/IRM satellite in 1986. Results show that the ion temperature increases with increasing magnetic activity and the ion density decreases during disturbed intervals, except in the neutral sheet neighborhood at smaller radial distances. The ion and electron temperatures (Ti and Te, respectively) in the central plasma sheet were found to be highly correlated, with the Ti/Te ratio being constant over a wide range of temperatures and about twice as large as in the distant tail. The average ion flow speeds in the central plasma sheet (below 100 km/sec) are nearly identical to those found in the plasma sheet boundary layer, but their distribution functions for these regions are quite different.
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