KINETIC SIMULATION OF PLASMA FLOWS IN THE INNER MAGNETOSPHERE

A one-dimensional hybrid panicle code is used to study the interaction s between upflowing thermal ions from conjugate ionospheres. The simul ation model allows for multiple species, convection of plasmaspheric f lux tubes, and Coulomb self-collisions which conserve momentum and ene rgy locally. The model incorporates a variable-flux boundary condition where the flux, at the boundaries, approaches zero as the plasmaspher e fills and equilibrium conditions are reached. The effects of two imp ortant processes on plasmaspheric refilling have been considered. The first includes convection of the plasmaspheric flux tube. The second i s the interaction of ionospheric thermal plasma and panicle injection from an external source. Particle injection seems to play an important role in the evolution of the total particle distribution on the early timescales (t < 1 hour); however, for late timescales (t > 8 days) th e thermal plasma from the ionosphere dominates the particle distributi on.