DE1 observations of polar O(+) stream bulk parameters and comparison with a model of the centrifugally-accelerated polar wind
A survey of bulk parameters of analyzable O(+) outward streams in the midaltitude (3-4.7 R(sub E) geocentric distance) polar cap magnetosphere is obtained from measurments by the Retarding Ion Mass Spectrometer (RIMS) aboard the Dynamics Explorer 1 (DE1) spacecraft. There is wide scatter in the obtained densities, but they do display discernible trends: the average O(+) density in these decreases from about 30 ions/cu cm at 3.5 R(sub E) to about 1 ion/cu cm at 4.6 R(sub E). The streaming velocities are somewhat more defined, and their average increases from about 8 km/s at 3.5 R(sub E) to about 12 km/s at 4 R(sub E). The outward ion flux increases by a factor of 4 with magnetic activity from K(sub p) = 2 to 5. We have further compared these observational trends with model profiles for the centrifugally-accelerated polar wind as recently described by Horwitz et al. (1994). The large outflow velocities observed can be understood in part as centrifugally-driven by convection with ionospheric electric field magnitudes of the order 50-70 mV/m, purhaps including plasma expansion effects.