International Journal of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy
Published by the American Geophysical Union
Vol. 1, No. 1, April 1998
On the nature of electric fields in the Earth's
inner magnetosphere (a review)
E. E. Antonova and B. A. Tverskoy
Abstract
The paper discusses the processes of formation of
large-scale electric fields and currents in the Earth's inner
magnetosphere. Among possible sources of these fields and currents
the magnetostatic equilibrium azimuthal pressure gradients are
selected. It is shown that this source is dominant not only in
formation of region II field-aligned currents but also in formation
of region I field-aligned currents, which leads to the
reconsideration of many well-established concepts in the physics of
magnetospheric plasma. Stability of the magnetospheric plasma
distribution and the simulation results of the inner magnetosphere
screening for the stationary and nonstationary cases are analyzed.
The processes of transition from the linear to the nonlinear regime
are qualitatively considered. The contribution of the small-scale
field fluctuations and diffusion processes to formation of plasma
pressure gradients is discussed.