Precipitation of Auroral Electrons Accelerated at Very High Altitudes: Impact on the Ionosphere and a Possible Acceleration Mechanism

Abstract

The Arase satellite observed the precipitation of monoenergetic electrons accelerated from a very high altitude above 32,000 km altitude on 16 September 2017. The event was selected in the period when the high-angular resolution channel of the electron detector looked at pitch angles within ∼5° from the ambient magnetic field direction, and thereby was the first to examine the detailed distribution of electron flux near the energy-dependent loss cone at such high altitudes. The potential energy below the satellite estimated from the observed energy-dependence of the loss cone was consistent with the energy of the upgoing ion beams, indicating that ionospheric ions were accelerated by a lower-altitude acceleration region. The accelerated electrons inside the loss cone carried a significant net field-aligned current (FAC) density corresponding to ionospheric-altitude FAC of up to ∼3μA/m². Based on the anisotropy of the accelerated electrons, we estimated the height of the upper boundary of the acceleration region to be >∼2 R_E above the satellite. The height distribution of the acceleration region below the satellite, estimated from the frequency of auroral kilometric radiation, was ∼4,000–13,000 km altitude, suggesting that the very-high-altitude acceleration region was separated from the lower acceleration region. Additionally, we observed time domain structure (TDS) electric fields on a subsecond time scale with a thin FAC indicated by magnetic deflections. Such a TDS may be generated by the formation of double layers in the magnetotail, and its potential drop could significantly contribute (∼40%–60%) to the parallel energization of precipitating auroral electrons.