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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 109, A01202, doi:10.1029/2003JA009948, 2004

Plasmaspheric mass loss and refilling as a result of a magnetic storm

B. W. Reinisch

Environmental, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences Department, Center for Atmospheric Research, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts, USA


X. Huang

Environmental, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences Department, Center for Atmospheric Research, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts, USA


P. Song

Environmental, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences Department, Center for Atmospheric Research, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts, USA


J. L. Green

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA


S. F. Fung

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA


V. M. Vasyliunas

Max-Planck-Institut für Aeronomie, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany


D. L. Gallagher

NASA Marshal Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama, USA


B. R. Sandel

Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA


Abstract

Using the sounding measurements from the radio plasma imager on IMAGE and a plasma density inversion algorithm, we derive the plasma density profiles along the magnetic field in a few L shells every 14 hours at magnetic local noon before, during, and after the 31 March 2001 magnetic storm. An empirical model of the plasmaspheric plasma density distribution is derived as a reference using the measurements before the storm. During the storm the equatorial plasma was substantially depleted in a range of L shells. The flux tubes were refilled after the storm. The filling ratio, the equatorial plasma density normalized by its quiet time value before the storm, is introduced to assess the time evolution of the depletion and refilling processes. The depletion, more than two thirds of the quiet time content, appeared to occur rather quickly after the storm onset, as determined by the limited temporal resolution of the measurements. The refilling proceeded, although more slowly than the depletion process, significantly faster than the theoretical prediction of a 3-day timescale. Dynamic structures are observed in situ and confirmed by the extreme ultraviolet imager (EUV) measurements.

Received 20 March 2003; accepted 28 August 2003; published 6 January 2004.

Index Terms: 2768 Magnetospheric Physics: Plasmasphere; 2788 Magnetospheric Physics: Storms and substorms; 2730 Magnetospheric Physics: Magnetosphere—inner; 2740 Magnetospheric Physics: Magnetospheric configuration and dynamics.

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Citation: Reinisch, B. W., X. Huang, P. Song, J. L. Green, S. F. Fung, V. M. Vasyliunas, D. L. Gallagher, and B. R. Sandel (2004), Plasmaspheric mass loss and refilling as a result of a magnetic storm, J. Geophys. Res., 109, A01202, doi:10.1029/2003JA009948.