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Barium cloud evolution and striation formation in the magnetospheric release on September 21, 1971The joint NASA-Max Planck Institute Barium Ion Cloud (BIC) Experiment on September 21, 1971 involved the release of 1.7 kg of neutral barium at an altitude of 31,500 km at a latitude of 6.93 deg N. and a longitude of 74.40 deg W. A theoretical model describing the barium neutral cloud expansion and the ion cloud formation is developed. The mechanism of formation of the striational features observed in the release is also discussed. Two candidate instabilities, which may contribute to striation formation, are examined. The drift instability stemming from the outwardly directed drag force exerted on the ions by the outstreaming neutrals is rejected on the grounds that the ion density is too low during the collision-dominated phase of the cloud expansion to support this kind of instability. The joint action of Rayleigh-Taylor and flute instabilities plausibly accounts for the observed striational structure. This same mechanism may well be operative at times of sudden injection of plasma into the inner magnetosphere during geomagnetic storms and may thus contribute to the formation of field-alined inhomogeneities which serve as whistler ducts.
Document ID
19740024694
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Other - NASA Technical Note (TN)
Authors
Adamson, D. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Fricke, C. L. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Date Acquired
September 3, 2013
Publication Date
September 1, 1974
Subject Category
Geophysics
Report/Patent Number
NASA-TN-D-7722
L-9668
Accession Number
74N32807
Funding Number(s)
PROJECT: RTOP 879-11-36-01
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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