Plasma gradient effects on double-probe measurements in the magnetosphere
| Autor: | Harri Laakso, Robert F. Pfaff, T. L. Aggson |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 1995 |
| Předmět: |
Physics
Atmospheric Science Electron density lcsh:QC801-809 Magnetosphere Geology Astronomy and Astrophysics Plasmasphere Plasma lcsh:QC1-999 lcsh:Geophysics. Cosmic physics Temperature gradient Space and Planetary Science Electric field Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous) Magnetopause Electron temperature lcsh:Q Atomic physics lcsh:Science lcsh:Physics |
| Zdroj: | Annales Geophysicae, Vol 13, Pp 130-146 (1995) Annales Geophysicae, Vol 13, Iss 2, Pp 130-146 (0000) |
| ISSN: | 1432-0576 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s00585-995-0130-z |
| Popis: | The effects on double-probe electric field measurements induced by electron density and temperature gradients are investigated. We show that on some occasions such gradients may lead to marked spurious electric fields if the probes are assumed to lie at the same probe potential with respect to the plasma. The use of a proper bias current will decrease the magnitude of such an error. When the probes are near the plasma potential, the magnitude of these error signals, ∆E, can vary as ∆E ~ Te(∆ne/ne)+0.5∆Te, where Te is the electron temperature, ∆ne/ne the relative electron density variation between the two sensors, and ∆Te the electron temperature difference between the two sensors. This not only implies that the error signals will increase linearly with the density variations but also that such signatures grow with Te, i.e., such effects are 10 times larger in a 10-eV plasma than in a 1-eV plasma. This type of error is independent of the probe separation distance provided the gradient scale length is much larger than this distance. The largest errors occur when the probes are near to the plasma potential. At larger positive probe potentials with respect to the plasma potential, the error becomes smaller if the probes are biased, as is usually the case with spherical double-probe experiments in the tenuous magnetospheric plasmas. The crossing of a plasma boundary (like the plasmapause or magnetopause) yields an error signal of a single peak. During the crossing of a small structure (e.g., a double layer) the error signal appears as a bipolar signature. Our analysis shows that errors in double-probe measurements caused by plasma gradients are not significant at large scale (»1 km) plasma boundaries, and may only be important in cases where small-scale ( |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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