The large-scale magnetospheric electric field observed by Double Star TC-1
Publication date: 04 September 2010
Authors: He, Z.H. et al.
Journal: Annales Geophysicae
Volume: 28
Issue: 9
Page: 1625-1631
Year: 2010
Copyright: EGU
The relationship between the average structure of the inner magnetospheric large-scale electric field and geomagnetic activity levels has been investigated by Double Star TC-1 data for radial distances between 4.5 Re and 12.5 Re and MLT between 18:00 h and 06:00 h from July to October in 2004 and 2005. The sunward component of the electric field decreases monotonically as radial distance increases and approaches zero as the distance off the Earth is greater than 10 Re. The dawn-dusk component is always duskward. It decreases at about 6 Re where the ring current is typically observed to be the strongest and shows strong asymmetry with respect to the magnetic local time. Surprisingly, the average electric field obtained from TC-1 for low activity is almost comparable to that observed during moderate activity, which is always duskward at the magnetotail (8 Re~12 Re).
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