### Approximations for the study of drift boundaries in the magnetosphereApproximations for the study of drift boundaries in the magnetosphere

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 Author Kivelson, M. G. ♦ Southwood, D. J. Sponsorship USDOE Source United States Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information Content type Text Publisher American Geophysical Union Language English
 Subject Keyword Physics (Atmospheric)-Magnetospheric Phenomena ♦ Physics Research-Atmospheric Physics- Magnetospheric Phenomena ♦ MAGNETOSPHERE- BOUNDARY LAYERS ♦ ELECTRIC FIELDS ♦ ELECTRONS ♦ INCLINATION ♦ MAGNETIC FIELDS ♦ PLASMA DRIFT Abstract An approximate relation between energy and equatorial radial distance for a particle of pitch angle $alpha$eq moving adiabatically in a dipole magnetic field is used to describe the Alfven layer for particles of arbitrary pitch angle. The convection electric field is assumed to be uniform in the equatorial plane of the magnetosphere, and magnetic field lines are taken to be equipotentials in the region traversed by the magnetospheric particles being studied. Approximate solutions in the high- and low-energy limits are given in a form directly applicable to the interpretation of measurements at fixed particle energy and pitch angle. These results are particularly useful for electrons, since the approximations provide lower bounds to the exact solutions. The results are used to interpret recent Explorer 45 electron measurements of Williams et al. (auth) ISSN 01480227 Educational Use Research Learning Resource Type Article Publisher Date 1975-09-01 Publisher Department Univ. of California, Los Angeles Publisher Place United States Journal Journal of Geophysical Research Volume Number 80 Issue Number 25 Organization Univ. of California, Los Angeles