Recent observations by the Fast Auroral SnapshoT (FAST) satellite [Andersson et al., Phys. Plasmas 15, 072901 (2008), this issue] suggest that characteristics of particles and waves on the high-potential side of strong double layers in Earth’s auroral downward current region are influenced by properties of the suprathermal electron component. Current-driven Vlasov simulations in one spatial dimension with suprathermal electrons differing in density and temperature were performed to study their influence on double-layer evolution. A sufficiently dense and hot suprathermal population is found to stabilize strong laminar double layers over long periods while regulating their strength and velocity. Synthetic electron energy-flux spectra from simulations with different suprathermal electron populations reveal certain similarities to the corresponding FAST observations.
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Newman et al. (2008) studied this question.
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