Upward high-energy field-aligned electron beams above the polar edge of auroral oval: observations from the SKA-3 instruments onboard the Auroral Probe (Interball-2)

V. A. Stepanov (1) , Y. I. Galperin (1) , A. K. Kuzmin (1) , F. K. Shuiskaya (1) , L. S. Gorn (2) , B. A. Ilyin (2) , M. V. Iovlev (2) , A. A. Klimashov (2) , I. I. Cherkashin (2) , B. I. Khazanov (2) , A. Y. Safronov (2)

1 IKI - Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences
2 Scientific Engineering Center (SNIIP)

A new phenomenon was found at the polar edge of the auroral oval in the postmidnight-morning sectors: field-aligned (FA) high-energy upward electron beams in the energy range 20?40 keV at altitudes about 3R_E, accompanied by bidirectional electron FA beams of keV energy. The beam intensity often reaches more than 0.5·10³ electrons/s·sr·keV·cm², and the beams are observed for a relatively long time (~3·10²?10³s), when the satellite at the apogee moves slowly in the ILAT-MLT frame. A qualitative scenario of the acceleration mechanism is proposed, according to which the satellite is within a region of bidirectional acceleration where a stochastic FA acceleration is accomplished by waves with fluctuating FA electric field components in both directions.

Domaines: Océan, Atmosphère; Sciences de la Terre

V. A. Stepanov, Y. I. Galperin, A. K. Kuzmin, F. K. Shuiskaya, L. S. Gorn, et al.. Upward high-energy field-aligned electron beams above the polar edge of auroral oval: observations from the SKA-3 instruments onboard the Auroral Probe (Interball-2). Annales Geophysicae, 1998, 16 (9), pp.1046-1055. ⟨hal-00316440⟩