PRELIMINARY-STUDY OF THE CRRES MAGNETOSPHERIC BARIUM RELEASES

Preliminary theoretical and computational analyses of the Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES) magnetospheric barium releases are presented. The focus of the studies is on the evolution of the diamagnetic cavity which is formed by the barium ions as they expand outward, and on the structuring of the density and magnetic field during the expansion phase of the releases. Two sets of simulation studies are discussed. The first set is based upon a two-dimensional ideal MHD code and provides estimates of the time and length scales associated with the formation and collapse of the diamagnetic cavity. The second set uses a nonideal MHD code; specifically, the Hall term is included. This additional term is critical to the dynamics of sub-Alfvenic plasma expansions, such as the CRRES barium releases, because it leads to instability of the expanding plasma. We performed detailed simulations of the G4 and G10 releases. In both cases the expanding plasma rapidly structured: the G4 release structured at time t less than or similar to 3 s and developed scale sizes approximately 1-2 km, while the G10 release structured at time t less than or similar to 22 s and developed scale sizes approximately 10-15 km. We also find that the diamagnetic cavity size is reduced from those obtained from the ideal MHD results because of the structure. On the other hand, the structuring allows the formation of plasma blobs which appear to free stream across the magnetic field; thus, the barium plasma can propagate to larger distances transverse to the magnetic field than the case where no structuring occurs. Finally, we also discovered a new normal mode of the system which may be excited at the leading edge of the expanding barium plasma. This mode is a magnetic drift wave which propagates azimuthally around the barium cloud in the frequency range OMEGA(i) << omega << OMEGA(e).