Henderson, M. G.,
Co-Authors: G. D. Reeves, K. R. Moore, H. E. Spence, A. M. Jorgensen, J. F. Fennell, J. B. Blake, and E. C. Roelof,
Title: Energetic Neutral Atom Images from the POLAR CEPPAD/IPS Instrument: Initial Forward Modeling Results,
Reference: AGU Spring Meeting, Baltimore, MD, May 27-30, 1997.
Reference Type: Contributed Talk
CEPPAD: true
CAMMICE: false
RAPID: false
Abstract:
Energetic neutral atom imaging provides a powerful means through which the global characteristics of the inner magnetospheric energetic ion population can be inferred. However, while an enormous amount of information can be obtained from the raw ENA images alone (e.g. {\em Henderson et al.}, [1997]), it is important to note that they do not map out the distribution of the energetic ion population directly. Instead, they map out the regions of charge exchange collisions occurring between the energetic ion population and the Earth's geocorona. This distinction is significant, particularly in light of the fact that the geocorona is not spherically symmetrical about the Earth; due to global variations in the resonant scattering of Lyman $\alpha$ photons, the geocorona develops a tail in the anti-sunward direction and also has a smaller bulge extending toward the dayside. Here, we report on initial results of attempts to recover the true global energetic ion distribution from ENA images obtained with the POLAR CEPPAD/IPS instrument using forward modeling techniques.
