Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Perspective on heliophysics
- 2 Introduction to space storms and radiation
- 3 In-situ detection of energetic particles
- 4 Radiative signatures of energetic particles
- 5 Observations of solar and stellar eruptions, flares, and jets
- 6 Models of coronal mass ejections and flares
- 7 Shocks in heliophysics
- 8 Particle acceleration in shocks
- 9 Energetic particle transport
- 10 Energy conversion in planetary magnetospheres
- 11 Energization of trapped particles
- 12 Flares, coronal mass ejections, and atmospheric responses
- 13 Energetic particles and manned spaceflight
- 14 Energetic particles and technology
- Appendix I Authors and editors
- List of illustrations
- List of tables
- References
- Index
- Plate section
10 - Energy conversion in planetary magnetospheres
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 April 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Perspective on heliophysics
- 2 Introduction to space storms and radiation
- 3 In-situ detection of energetic particles
- 4 Radiative signatures of energetic particles
- 5 Observations of solar and stellar eruptions, flares, and jets
- 6 Models of coronal mass ejections and flares
- 7 Shocks in heliophysics
- 8 Particle acceleration in shocks
- 9 Energetic particle transport
- 10 Energy conversion in planetary magnetospheres
- 11 Energization of trapped particles
- 12 Flares, coronal mass ejections, and atmospheric responses
- 13 Energetic particles and manned spaceflight
- 14 Energetic particles and technology
- Appendix I Authors and editors
- List of illustrations
- List of tables
- References
- Index
- Plate section
Summary
Introduction
Planetary magnetospheres, by their very nature, provide plenty of possibilities for the development of energy conversion processes. Fundamentally a planetary magnetosphere (see e.g. Vol. I, Chapter 10) is simply the interface between two distinct regions: on the outside, the solar wind; on the inside, the ionosphere, atmosphere, and surface of the planet. The quite different motions of matter within the two regions, together with the role of the magnetic field in mediating the interaction between them, lead (almost unavoidably, it seems) to configurations of changing energy; the changes occur on a variety of time scales, ranging from quasistatic to explosive.
In keeping with the general approach adopted in this series of textbooks, this chapter aims to present energy conversion in planetary magnetospheres in general terms as part of a sub-branch of physics, namely the discipline of magnetospheric physics (which in turn is a sub-branch of heliophysics). Many of the concepts and basic results, however, originate from specific observations at and near Earth; accordingly, the chapter begins (Section 10.2) with a phenomenological overview of geophysical processes related to space storms and radiation. The physical description of energy conversion processes is then developed (Sections 10.3, 10.4, 10.5) and applied to interpret the phenomenology of energy-conversion events, both at Earth (Section 10.6) and at other planets (Section 10.7). The chapter concludes (Section 10.8) with a sketch of a possibly universal process.
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- Heliophysics: Space Storms and Radiation: Causes and Effects , pp. 263 - 292Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010
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