Showing papers by "Ramon Lopez published in 1992"

Current disruptions in the near-Earth neutral sheet region

Abstract: Current disruption events observed by the Charge Composition Explorer during 1985 and 1986 are examined. Occurrence of current disruption was accompanied by large magnetic field turbulence and frequently with reversal in the sign of the field component normal to the neutral sheet. Current disruptions in the near-earth region are found to be typically shortlived (about 1-5 min), and their onsets coincide well with the ground onsets of substorm expansion or intensification in the local time sector of the footpoint of the spacecraft. These events are found almost exclusively close to the field reversal plane of the neutral sheet (within about 0.5 RE). Prior to current disruption the field strength can be reduced to as low as one seventh of the dipole field value and can recover to nearly the dipole value after disruption. The temporal evolution of particle pressure in the near-earth neutral sheet during the onset of current disruption indicates that the current buildup during the substorm growth phase is associated with enhancement in the particle pressure at the neutral sheet.

Particle scattering and current sheet stability in the geomagnetic tail during the substorm growth phase

Abstract: The particle scattering and current sheet stability features in the geomagnetic tail during the phase of substorm growth were investigated using Tsyganenko's (1989) magnetic field model. In a study of four substorm events which were observed both in the high-altitude nightside tail and in the auroral ionosphere, the model magnetic field was adjusted to each case so as to represent the global field development during the growth phase of the substorms. The model results suggest that the auroral brightenings are connected with processes taking place in the near-earth region inside about 15 earth radii. The results also suggest that there is a connection between the chaotization of the electrons and the auroral brightenings at substorm onset.

Environmental Degradation and Economic Openness in LDCs: The Poverty Linkage

Abstract: The connection between growth, economic policies, and the environment in developing countries has become a primary concern for economists and policy makers. This is because of the fact that environmental degradation in the third world has accelerated dramatically over the last few decades. Deforestation, biomass degradation, and air emissions in developing countries are now a serious concern for the industrialized world. The world ecological system has been able to tolerate well the almost total elimination of natural forests and biomass, as well as the massive generation of air and water pollution by the developed countries. But it is not clear that a duplication of this process in the developing world would not induce radical changes could imply significant costs in terms of human lives, public health, and other investments in the industrialized countries. 18 refs.

Characteristics of pseudobreakups

Abstract: A pseudobreakup is a phenomenon similar to the substorm expansive phase onset, including an activation of an auroral arc, a burst of Pi2 micropulsations, and enhancement of the westward electrojet. However, these effects are weak and a pseudobreak is generally assumed to be very localized. The pseudobreakups are discussed based on simultaneous observations made in space and on the ground during the substorm growth phase. In the events studied the main features listed above are found, but the significance of the localization is unclear. The optical pseudobreakup, with associated magnetic perturbations, is highly localized, but simultaneously a wide local time sector of the auroral oval may be activated. The major differences between pseudobreakups and substorm expansive phase onsets are concluded to be the intensity and the development that follows. Careful study of pseudobreakups may help to determine phase initiation, and the role of the ionosphere-magnetosphere coupling in the substorm process.

Substorm Aurorae and Their Connection to the Inner Magnetosphere

Abstract: In this paper we present evidence from the low-altitude DMSP F7 satellite that the poleward edge of auroral luminosity in the nightside auroral zone does not necessarily correspond to the boundary between plasma-filled flux tubes and flux tubes devoid of plasma. Assuming that that low-altitude boundary corresponds to the boundary between the lobe and the plasma sheet, this implies that the boundary between open and closed field lines may lie poleward of the most poleward auroral luminosity. Thus the assumption that the poleward boundary of auroral luminosity is a good indicator of the open-closed boundary may not always be correct. Furthermore, we show clear evidence that an auroral surge may also be located equatorward of the open-closed boundary. Therefore, tailward of the region of the plasma sheet to which the surge is connected there may exist undisturbed plasma sheet that has not yet been disconnected from the ionosphere. This means that substorm-associated reconnection does not necessarily begin to reconnect lobe field lines at the onset of a substorm. Moreover, available evidence strongly suggests that the arc that brightens at the onset of a substorm and that develops into a surge maps to the inner magnetotail, to that region at the inner edge of the plasma sheet where the magnetic field changes from a dipolar to a taillike configuration. This would be consistent with recent studies that connect auroral breakup to the near-Earth (<10RE) plasma sheet.

Observational support for the current sheet catastrophe model of substorm current disruption

Abstract: The principles of the current sheet catastrophe models are briefly reviewed, and observations of some of the signatures predicted by the theory are presented. The data considered here include AMPTE/CCE observations of fifteen current sheet disruption events. According to the model proposed here, the root cause of the current disruption is some process, as yet unknown, that leads to an increase in the k sub A parameter. Possible causes for the increase in k sub A are discussed.

On the relative importance of magnetospheric and ionospheric processes during substorm onset and expansion: A case study

Abstract: The question of whether substorm onset is triggered in the magnetotail or the ionosphere is presented. The possible influence of the ionosphere in the subsequent development of a substorm is discussed. Theoretical considerations involved are reviewed and a case study to address this question is examined. The evidence indicates that magnetotail processes initiate the sequence of events called a substorm, while the ionosphere appears to play a critical role in the subsequent evolution of the substorm expansion phase. However, the necessary observations, in particular high time resolution coordinated observations in the ionosphere and magnetotail are relatively rare. Continued examination of existing ground and space based data sets, in particular underutilized observations such as the Scatha data, may provide a more solid foundation for clarifying this issue and determining the relative importance of magnetospheric and ionospheric processes during substorms.