The ring current.
The ring current.

This current flows in a ring around the Earth between about 2 RE and 6 RE from its centre. The current is caused by energetic particles drifting around the Earth. The particle drift is termed the gradient-curvature drift because it is due to the combined effect of the gradient and curvature of the magnetic field. For the ambient geomagnetic field in Space these two effects give currents directed in the same sense from east to west.

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