Initial thermal plasma observations from ISEE‐1

Abstract

The initial measurements of magnetospheric thermal ions by the Plasma Composition Experiment on ISEE‐1 are presented to demonstrate the surprising variety in this plasma population. The data provide evidence that the adiabatic mapping of the high latitude ionosphere to the equatorial plasma trough provides an insufficient description of the origin, transport, and accumulation processes which supply low energy ions to the outer plasmasphere and plasma trough.