Earth’s ambipolar electrostatic field and its role in ion escape to space

Glyn A. Collinson (), Alex Glocer, Robert Pfaff, Aroh Barjatya, Rachel Conway, Aaron Breneman, James Clemmons, Francis Eparvier, Robert Michell, David Mitchell, Suzie Imber, Hassanali Akbari, Lance Davis, Andrew Kavanagh, Ellen Robertson, Diana Swanson, Shaosui Xu, Jacob Miller, Timothy Cameron, Dennis Chornay, Paulo Uribe, Long Nguyen, Robert Clayton, Nathan Graves, Shantanab Debchoudhury, Henry Valentine and Ahmed Ghalib
Additional contact information
Glyn A. Collinson: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Alex Glocer: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Robert Pfaff: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Aroh Barjatya: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Rachel Conway: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Aaron Breneman: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
James Clemmons: University of New Hampshire
Francis Eparvier: University of Colorado at Boulder
Robert Michell: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
David Mitchell: University of California at Berkeley
Suzie Imber: University of Leicester
Hassanali Akbari: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Lance Davis: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Andrew Kavanagh: British Antarctic Survey
Ellen Robertson: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Diana Swanson: University of New Hampshire
Shaosui Xu: University of California at Berkeley
Jacob Miller: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Timothy Cameron: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Dennis Chornay: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Paulo Uribe: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Long Nguyen: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Robert Clayton: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Nathan Graves: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Shantanab Debchoudhury: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Henry Valentine: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Ahmed Ghalib: NASA Wallops Flight Facility

Nature, 2024, vol. 632, issue 8027, 1021-1025

Abstract: Abstract Cold plasma of ionospheric origin has recently been found to be a much larger contributor to the magnetosphere of Earth than expected1–3. Numerous competing mechanisms have been postulated to drive ion escape to space, including heating and acceleration by wave–particle interactions4 and a global electrostatic field between the ionosphere and space (called the ambipolar or polarization field)5,6. Observations of heated O+ ions in the magnetosphere are consistent with resonant wave–particle interactions7. By contrast, observations of cold supersonic H+ flowing out of the polar ionosphere8,9 (called the polar wind) suggest the presence of an electrostatic field. Here we report the existence of a +0.55 ± 0.09 V electric potential drop between 250 km and 768 km from a planetary electrostatic field (E∥⊕ = 1.09 ± 0.17 μV m−1) generated exclusively by the outward pressure of ionospheric electrons. We experimentally demonstrate that the ambipolar field of Earth controls the structure of the polar ionosphere, boosting the scale height by 271%. We infer that this increases the supply of cold O+ ions to the magnetosphere by more than 3,800%, in which other mechanisms such as wave–particle interactions can heat and further accelerate them to escape velocity. The electrostatic field of Earth is strong enough by itself to drive the polar wind9,10 and is probably the origin of the cold H+ ion population1 that dominates much of the magnetosphere2,3.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07480-3

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