ENERGETIC ELECTRONS IN THE CUSP AND IN THE HIGH-LATITUDE PLASMA SHEET - EVIDENCE FOR SOURCE REGIONS

HEOS-2 has observed energetic electrons (> 40 keV) in the high latitude magnetosphere appearing as one or more peaks outside and often well separated from the trapping boundary. Most of the observations are between 70° and 80° invariant latitudes both in the day and nightside. The peaks are located in the dayside adjacent to the polar cusp and coincide in the nightside with the edge of the plasma sheet. The electron peak intensity on the nightside shows a clear correlation with AE. The electron peak intensities on the dayside exceed those on the nightside and are generally higher in the pre-noon than in the afternoon sector. Observations on the dayside in the distant cusp region and in the adjacent magnetosheath show high and fluctuating intensities of energetic electronswith an energy spectrum much harder than in the outermost trapping region. This observational evidence suggests different source regions for these energetic electrons: one in the distant geomagnetic tail and another one around the dayside cusp indentation. © 1979.