| 1. |
- Wild, J. A., et al.
(författare)
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Midnight sector observations of auroral omega bands
- 2011
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 116, s. A00I30-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present observations of auroral omega bands on 28 September 2009. Although generally associated with the substorm recovery phase and typically observed in the morning sector, the features presented here occurred just after expansion phase onset and were observed in the midnight sector, dawnward of the onset region. An all-sky imager located in northeastern Iceland revealed that the omega bands were similar to 150 x 200 km in size and propagated eastward at similar to 0.4 km s(-1) while a colocated ground magnetometer recorded the simultaneous occurrence of Ps6 pulsations. Although somewhat smaller and slower moving than the majority of previously reported omega bands, the observed structures are clear examples of this phenomenon, albeit in an atypical location and unusually early in the substorm cycle. The THEMIS C probe provided detailed measurements of the upstream interplanetary environment, while the Cluster satellites were located in the tail plasma sheet conjugate to the ground-based all-sky imager. The Cluster satellites observed bursts of 0.1-3 keV electrons moving parallel to the magnetic field toward the Northern Hemisphere auroral ionosphere; these bursts were associated with increased levels of field-aligned Poynting flux. The in situ measurements are consistent with electron acceleration via shear Alfven waves in the plasma sheet similar to 8 R-E tailward of the Earth. Although a one-to-one association between auroral and magnetospheric features was not found, our observations suggest that Alfven waves in the plasma sheet are responsible for field-aligned currents that cause Ps6 pulsations and auroral brightening in the ionosphere. Our findings agree with the conclusions of earlier studies that auroral omega bands have a source mechanism in the midtail plasma sheet.
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| 2. |
- Liang, J., et al.
(författare)
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Electromagnetic ELF wave intensification associated with fast earthward flows in mid-tail plasma sheet
- 2012
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Ingår i: Annales Geophysicae. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 0992-7689 .- 1432-0576. ; 30:3, s. 467-488
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this study we perform a statistical survey of the extremely-low-frequency wave activities associated with fast earthward flows in the mid-tail central plasma sheet (CPS) based upon THEMIS measurements. We reveal clear trends of increasing wave intensity with flow enhancement over a broad frequency range, from below f(LH) (lower-hybrid resonant frequency) to above f(ce) (electron gyrofrequency). We mainly investigate two electromagnetic wave modes, the lower-hybrid waves at frequencies below f(LH), and the whistler-mode waves in the frequency range f(LH) < f < f(ce). The waves at f < f(LH) dramatically intensify during fast flow intervals, and tend to contain strong electromagnetic components in the high-plasma-beta CPS region, consistent with the theoretical expectation of the lower-hybrid drift instability in the center region of the tail current sheet. ULF waves with very large perpendicular wavenumber might be Doppler-shifted by the flows and also partly contribute to the observed waves in the lower-hybrid frequency range. The fast flow activity substantially increases the occurrence rate and peak magnitude of the electromagnetic waves in the frequency range f(LH) < f < f(ce), though they still tend to be short-lived and sporadic in occurrence. We also find that the electron pitch-angle distribution in the mid-tail CPS undergoes a variation from negative anisotropy (perpendicular temperature smaller than parallel temperature) during weak flow intervals, to more or less positive anisotropy (perpendicular temperature larger than parallel temperature) during fast flow intervals. The flow-related electromagnetic whistler-mode wave tends to occur in conjunction with positive electron anisotropy.
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