SM41E-2524
An empirical model of oxygen charge state distributions in the Earth’s magnetosphere
Thursday, 17 December 2015
Poster Hall (Moscone South)
Robert Colby Allen1, Stefano A Livi2,3 and Jerry Goldstein2,3, (1)Southwest Research Institute San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States, (2)University of Texas at San Antonio, Department of Physics & Astronomy, San Antonio, TX, United States, (3)Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, United States
Abstract:
Oxygen ions within the magnetosphere of Earth originate from two sources: the ionosphere and the solar wind. The sources of this plasma can be determined from the charge state of the ions. Ionospheric-originating ions will have low charge states (i.e., O+ and O2+), whereas solar wind-originating ions will have high charge states (i.e., O6+). The distributions of these ions have previously been explored using observations from CAMMICE/MICS onboard Polar. In this study we characterize these prior observations via an empirical model of oxygen charge state distributions in the magnetosphere of Earth for variations in Kp, Vsw Bz, and AE in both L-shell and magnetic local time. Model results are also compared to previously published oxygen charge state distributions observed by Polar, GEOS, and AMPTE/CCE.
