On the remote sensing of plasma sheet from low-altitude spacecraft

The possibility to estimate plasma sheet parameters from low-altitude measurements looks quite attractive, but it critically depends on how isotropic the plasma pressure is in the flux tube. To evaluate the ion pressure anisotropy we compare the values of pressure in the ionospheric and equatorial parts of the field line. Ionospheric values were computed from proton measurements at NOAA low-altitude satellites, they were compared with pressure estimates computed from empirical magnetic field models as well as with average values known from direct plasma sheet measurements. Three different methods of mapping the plasma pressure from plasma sheet to low altitude have been tried; each uses the particle isotropic boundaries observed at low altitudes and/or computed from magnetospheric models. Excluding observations obtained during substorm expansion, from these comparisons we conclude that in the plasma sheet, at geocentric distances 9–20 R E, the pressure estimates in the ionospheric and equatorial parts of the plasma sheet flux tube agree very well, suggesting a good pressure isotropy and thus justifying a possibility to monitor the plasma sheet parameters based on low-altitude measurements. The results also illustrate the usefulness of isotropic boundaries as a label of tail current intensity and as reliable tool for establishing mapping between magnetosphere and ionosphere.