Heating of Ions by Small-Scale Electric Field Inhomogeneities in the Auroral Ionosphere During Geomagnetic Disturbances

Abstract

In this paper, measurements of thermal and superthermal ions on the Interball-2 satellite are compared with the results of numerical simulation based on geomagnetic disturbances on December 7, 1996. It is shown that kinetic processes at small scales can have a significant effect on large-scale processes in high latitudes, leading to heating and the formation of ion fluxes and also to the formation of regions with an increased plasma density. Based on the analysis, the mechanisms that should be included in the large-scale ionosphere–magnetosphere models for the adequate description of the ion outflow from the ionosphere to the magnetosphere are determined.