Ring current composition and sources: An update

The composition of the Earth's ring current was reviewed at the Chapman Conference on “Magnetospheric Substorms and Related Plasma Processes,” held at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM., 9–13 October 1978 (Akasofu, 1980; Williams, 1980a). It was found that the composition of the bulk of the ring current energy distribution had not been measured and several source mechanisms were possible. In this note we update that review and present recent results from Prognoz, GEOS, and ISEE instruments. Composition data and results concerning the general behavior of storm time energetic particles are shown. It is found that the ring current energy density composition still has not been observed and that the recent equatorial low energy composition results add to the particle type (charge state) and source possibilities.