All Physics Faculty Publications

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Geophysical Research Letters

Volume

6

Issue

11

Publisher

American Geophysical Union

Publication Date

1979

First Page

877

Last Page

880

Abstract

We have used a plasma convection model to predict diurnal patterns of horizontal drift velocities in the vicinity of the EISCAT incoherent scatter facility at Tromso, Norway and for Sondre Stromfjord, Greenland, a proposed new incoherent scatter facility site. The convection model includes the offset of 11.4° between the geographic and geomagnetic poles (northern hemisphere), the tendency of plasma to corotate about the geographic pole, and a magnetospheric electric field mapped to a circle about a center offset by 5° in the antisunward direction from the magnetic pole. Four different magnetospheric electric field configurations were considered, including a constant cross‐ tail electric field, asymmetric electric fields with enhancements on the dawn and dusk sides of the polar cap, and an electric field pattern that is not aligned parallel to the noon‐midnight magnetic meridian. The different electric field configurations produce different signatures in the plasma convection pattern which are clearly identified. Both of these high‐latitude sites are better suited to study magnetospheric convection effects than either Chatanika, Alaska or Millstone Hill, Massachusetts. Also, each site appears to have unique capabilities with regard to studying certain aspects of the magnetospheric electric field.

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