Ion acceleration in the suprauroral region: A Monte Carlo Model

The acceleration of ions and the formation of ion conics in the suprauroral region is studied using a model which includes the effects of wave‐particle interaction, the inhomogeneous geomagnetic field, and field‐aligned potential drops. Particle acceleration by interaction with turbulence is treated as a random process in a simplified way using a Monte Carlo technique. Applying the model to ion acceleration by lower‐hybrid turbulence between 1000 and 5000 km, we find that the observed amplitudes of the waves are sufficient to accelerate ions to the energies often found in conics.