601 research outputs found
Rocket-borne investigation of auroral patches in the evening sector during substorm recovery
International audienceOn 11 February 1997 at 08:36 UT after a substorm onset the Auroral Turbulence 2 sounding rocket was launched from Poker Flat Research Range, Alaska into a moderately active auroral region. This experiment has allowed us to investigate evening (21:00 MLT) auroral forms at the substorm recovery, which were discrete multiple auroral arcs stretched to, the east and southeast from the breakup region, and bright auroral patches propagating westward along the arcs like a luminosity wave, which is a typical feature of the disturbed arc. The rocket crossed an auroral arc of about 40 km width, stretched along southeast direction. Auroral patches and associated electric fields formed a 200 km long periodical structure, which propagated along the arc westward at a velocity of 3 km/s, whereas the ionospheric plasma velocity inside the arc was 300 m/s westward. The spatial periodicity in the rocket data was found from optical ground-based observations, from electric field in situ measurements, as well as from ground-based magnetic observations. The bright patches were co-located with equatorward plasma flow across the arc of the order of 200 m/s in magnitude, whereas the plasma flow tended to be poleward at the intervals between the patches, where the electric field reached the magnitude of up to 20 mV/m, and these maxima were co-located with the peaks in electron precipitations indicated by the electron counter on board the rocket. Pulsations of a 70-s period were observed on the ground in the eastern component of the magnetic field and this is consistent with the moving auroral patches and the north-south plasma flows associated with them. The enhanced patch-associated electric field and fast westward propagation suggest essential differences between evening auroral patches and those occurring in the morning ionosphere. We propose the wave that propagates along the plasma sheet boundary to be a promising mechanism for the evening auroral patches
Attractive instability of oppositely charged membranes induced by charge density fluctuations
We predict the conditions under which two oppositely charged membranes show a
dynamic, attractive instability. Two layers with unequal charges of opposite
sign can repel or be stable when in close proximity. However, dynamic charge
density fluctuations can induce an attractive instability and thus facilitate
fusion. We predict the dominant instability modes and timescales and show how
these are controlled by the relative charge and membrane viscosities. These
dynamic instabilities may be the precursors of membrane fusion in systems where
artificial vesicles are engulfed by biological cells of opposite charge
Comparison between manual scaling and Autoscala automatic scaling applied to Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory ionograms
This paper presents a comparison between standard ionospheric parameters manually and automatically scaled from ionograms recorded at the high-latitude Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory (SGO, ionosonde SO166, 64.1° geomagnetic latitude), located in the vicinity of the auroral oval. The study is based on 2610 ionograms recorded during the period June–December 2013. The automatic scaling was made by means of the Autoscala software. A few typical examples are shown to outline the method, and statistics
are presented regarding the differences between manually and automatically scaled values of F2, F1, E and sporadic E (Es) layer parameters. We draw the conclusions that:
1. The F2 parameters scaled by Autoscala, foF2 and M(3000)F2, are reliable.
2. F1 is identified by Autoscala in significantly fewer cases (about 50 %) than in the manual routine, but if identified
the values of foF1 are reliable.
3. Autoscala frequently (30% of the cases) detects an E layer when the manual scaling process does not. When identified by both methods, the Autoscala E-layer parameters
are close to those manually scaled, foE agreeing to within 0.4 MHz.
4. Es and parameters of Es identified by Autoscala are in many cases different from those of the manual scaling. Scaling of Es at auroral latitudes is often a difficult task
Effect of an electric field on nucleation and growth of crystals
The effect of the electric field strength on nucleation and growth of the crystals of ammonium halides and alkali metal sulfates has been studied. The optimal electric field strength for NH[4]Cl and NH[4]Br crystals was found to be 15 kV/cm, and for NH[4]I, it equaled 10 kV/cm. No effect of the electric field strength on the crystal growth was found for alkali metal sulfates. This difference is analyzed in terms of the crystal growth thermodynamics. In case, when the electric field is small and the Gibbs energy is of a significant value, the influence of the electric field at the crystal growth is negligible. A method to estimate the critical radius of homogeneous nucleation of the crystal is suggested
INTEGRAL/IBIS search for e-e+ annihilation radiation from the Galactic Center Region
Electron-positron annihilation radiation from the Galactic Center region has
been detected since the seventies, but its astrophysical origin is still a
topic of a scientific debate. We have analyzed data of the gamma-ray imager
IBIS/ISGRI onboard of ESA's INTEGRAL platform in the ee line.
During the first year of the missions Galactic Center Deep Exposure no evidence
for point sources at 511 keV has been found in the ISGRI data; the
upper limit for resolved single point sources is estimated to be .Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures; Cospar 2004. To be published in: Advances in
Space Researc
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