First results from the hot plasma instrument PROMICS-3 on Interball-2

Abstract

Abstract. The PROMICS-3 instrument on Interball-2 is nominally identical to the PROMICS-3 instrument on Interball-1. It performs three-dimensional measurements of ions in the energy range 4 eV±70 keV with mass separation and of electrons in the energy range 300 eV±35 keV. Interball-2 was launched on August 29, 1996, into an orbit with the same inclination as that of Interball-1, 63 , but with apogee at 20 000 km. In this study the PROMICS-3 instrument on Interball-2 is brie¯y described and examples of the ®rst results are presented. Firstly, we report observations of upward moving molecular ions with energies of up to 700 eV at the poleward edge of the auroral oval. Previous observations of out¯owing molecular ions have been at lower altitudes and lower energies. Secondly, we show observations of dawnside magnetosheath plasma injections. Using conjugate data from both PROMICS-3 instruments we have found dispersion structures above the morningside auroral oval, which occurred simultaneously with isolated``pockets'' of magnetosheath plasma at a distance of X GSM À14 to À12 R E , which had been injected into the inner part of the low-latitude boundary layer. These isolated plasma structures were sites of strong ®eld-aligned currents and are proposed to be the magnetospheric counterparts of the dispersion structures.

Dayside proton aurora associated with magnetic impulse events: South Pole observations

“…(2) Protons escaped from the opposite hemisphere [e.g., Frahm et al , 1986; Yamauchi et al , 2005]. (3) Protons directly entered from the magnetosheath [e.g., Lemaire and Roth , 1978; Carlson and Torbert , 1980; Sonnerup et al , 1981; Heikkila , 1982, 1989; Lundin , 1988; Woch and Lundin , 1991, 1992; Sauvaud et al , 1998; Sandahl et al , 1999; Stenuit et al , 2001; Lundin et al , 2003; Yamauchi et al , 2003; Lu et al , 2004]. There is no clear evidence that supports any of the above mechanisms.…”