Imaging the outflow of ionospheric ions into the magnetosphere

Abstract

The discovery of ionospheric ion outflow into the magnetosphere has been considered a major advance in magnetospheric physics in the past decade. Satellite measurements in situ are, however, too localized to address the global scope of the phenomenon. It is therefore important to consider methods to image the global outflow of ionospheric ions into the magnetosphere. We consider below the concept and verification of imaging the global ionospheric outflow by using spectrophotometric observations of far-ultraviolet and extreme-ultraviolet solar lines resonantly scattered by ionospheric ions or exospheric neutrals in the auroral regions of the magnetosphere. We shall also present new satellite observations which verify the concept and show that this imaging capability is feasible with present technology.