A new mechanism for early time plasmaspheric refilling

We present a robust assessment of the formation and evolution of the cold H+ population produced via charge-exchange processes between ring current ions and exospheric neutral hydrogen in the inner magnetosphere, inferred via numerical simulations of the near-Earth plasma using a drift kinetic model of the ring current-plasmasphere system.

We evaluate the flow of mass and energy through the inner magnetospheric system and show that the production and evolution of the cold H+ population can be primarily driven by the plasma sheet conditions and dynamics and has the potential to reshape the plasmasphere and enhance the early-stage plasmaspheric refilling. We present evidence that the plasma sheet heavy ion composition is the primary controlling factor in the formation of the cold H+ via charge exchange with the geocorona, while the neutral density plays a much smaller role.