Auroral E-Fields from DE-1 and -2 at Magnetically Conjugate Points

摘要

The results of studies of the electric field measurements from the two Dynamics Explorer satellites are reviewed. There are times at which DE-2 measured electric fields at the auroral ionosphere while DE-1 obtained nearly simultaneous measurement at a higher altitude on the same magnetic field lines. When these electric fields are mapped to a common altitude it is found that the large-scale electric fields are similar, but the small-scale electric fields have a larger amplitude at the higher altitude. Through the use of Fourier analysis it is shown that these results are evidence for a magnetic field-aligned potential drop between the two satellites. While these results were made possible by the satellites' altitude separation, it is also possible to take advantage of the fact that the satellites may pass through the same geomagnetic location with a time separation. This was useful for confirming that sinusoidal electric field oscillations which were detected near one conjunction were due to spatial rather than temporal variations, since similar oscillations were found at the same location at different times. The observed spatial oscillations can be explained by a simple model of magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling. Keywords: Magnetosphere ionosphere coupling; Auroral currents; Electric fields; Oscillations; Dynamic explorer; Reprints. (jhd)