Abstract
Cold plasma constitutes a major mass source in Earth’s magnetosphere, originating primarily from the solar wind and the ionosphere. During geomagnetic storms, the ionospheric contribution can rise significantly. Understanding the transport pathways of cold plasma into the magnetosphere is, therefore, essential.
One such pathway is plasmasphere refilling, a process wherein depleted magnetic flux tubes are replenished by flow from the ionosphere following enhanced magnetospheric convection and subsequent plasmaspheric erosion. Interest in this process dates back to the 1980s when NASA’s Dynamics Explorer (DE)-1 provided pivotal measurements. In the 1990s, LANL Geosynchronous measurements revealed evidence for a two-stage refilling process, a finding later supported by recent observations from the Van Allen Probes. Despite these observational advances, the physical mechanisms governing the two-stage nature of refilling remain poorly understood.
In this seminar, I will revisit the plasmasphere refilling process with a focus on its two-stage structure. I will present sensitivity studies that explore the controlling factors and dynamics underpinning these stages, with the goal of advancing our understanding of cold plasma transport in the magnetosphere.
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Address Info:
LASP – Space Science Building
SPSC-W120
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