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Garrett, H. B.

Publications and source records attributed to Garrett, H. B..

60 records · Page 4

Analysis of penumbral eclipse data

Two days of data from the ATS-6 1976 eclipse season were analyzed to determine the effects of varying photoelectron flux on spacecraft potential. Particular emphasis was placed on the variation in potential as the satellite entered the earth's penumbra. Measurements from the AE-C satellite of the solar UV radiation were used to construct a model of atmospheric attenuation. This model was found to be consistent with direct measurements of the variations in photoelectron flux as Injun 5 passed into eclipse. Applying the model to the ATS-6 data gave the time dependency of the solar illumination/photoelectron flux as the satellite was eclipsed. This relationship, when combined with the ATS-6 measurements of satellite potential, revealed a nearly linear relation between the solar illumination/photoelectron flux and the logarithm of the satellite potential.

Garrett, H. B.↗

Influence of solar wind variability on geomagnetic activity

A statistical study of solar wind data from the Explorer 33 satellite shows that interplanetary magnetic field irregularities are enhanced in the interaction region where a fast solar wind stream overtakes a slower solar wind stream. Comparison with geomagnetic AE and ap indexes further shows that these interplanetary irregularities enhance the level of geomagnetic disturbances. Thus while substorm occurrence is highly correlated with the dawn-dusk component of the solar wind electric field, the amplitude of the substorms is an increasing function of the variance in the interplanetary field. This result can be interpreted as a capacitative effect of the magnetopause that allows a time-varying solar wind electric field to penetrate the magnetosphere more effectively than a static solar wind electric field.

Garrett, H. B.↗

The relationship between velocity gradients and magnetic turbulence in the solar wind

The correlations among the time derivative of the solar-wind velocity, the magnitude of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), and the IMF turbulence level are examined to test the idea that interaction between two colliding solar-wind streams can generate turbulence in the solar wind and the IMF. Data obtained by Explorer 33 on the solar wind and IMF are described, and the analysis techniques are outlined. The results indicate that the IMF turbulence level, as measured by the variance, is correlated with the existence of positive velocity gradients in the solar wind. It is noted that while the variance is an increasing function of the field magnitude, it is also independently correlated with the solar-wind velocity gradient.

Garrett, H. B.↗

Plasma-sheet ions at lunar distance preceding substorm onset.

During the partial lunar eclipse of August 17, 1970, four intense, transient bursts of kV-energy positive ions were detected at the lunar surface by the Rice University ALSEP Suprathermal Ion Detector Experiment. The eclipse happened to occur during a main-phase geomagnetic storm while the moon was within a few earth radii of the calculated position of the neutral sheet. The two most intense ion bursts were each followed roughly one-half hour later by the sudden onset of a several thousand gamma polar magnetic substorm at the earth's surface. Two smaller ion enhancements were also followed by smaller magnetic disturbances. This observation is interpreted in terms of a downstream escape of plasma-sheet particles associated with the substorm growth phase.

Garrett, H. B.↗