| 1. |
- Berthomier, M., et al.
(författare)
-
Alfven : magnetosphere-ionosphere connection explorers
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Experimental astronomy. - Dordrecht : Springer. - 0922-6435 .- 1572-9508. ; 33:2-3, s. 445-489
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aurorae are dynamic, luminous displays that grace the night skies of Earth's high latitude regions. The solar wind emanating from the Sun is their ultimate energy source, but the chain of plasma physical processes leading to auroral displays is complex. The special conditions at the interface between the solar wind-driven magnetosphere and the ionospheric environment at the top of Earth's atmosphere play a central role. In this Auroral Acceleration Region (AAR) persistent electric fields directed along the magnetic field accelerate magnetospheric electrons to the high energies needed to excite luminosity when they hit the atmosphere. The "ideal magnetohydrodynamics" description of space plasmas which is useful in much of the magnetosphere cannot be used to understand the AAR. The AAR has been studied by a small number of single spacecraft missions which revealed an environment rich in wave-particle interactions, plasma turbulence, and nonlinear acceleration processes, acting on a variety of spatio-temporal scales. The pioneering 4-spacecraft Cluster magnetospheric research mission is now fortuitously visiting the AAR, but its particle instruments are too slow to allow resolve many of the key plasma physics phenomena. The Alfv,n concept is designed specifically to take the next step in studying the aurora, by making the crucial high-time resolution, multi-scale measurements in the AAR, needed to address the key science questions of auroral plasma physics. The new knowledge that the mission will produce will find application in studies of the Sun, the processes that accelerate the solar wind and that produce aurora on other planets.
|
|
| 2. |
- Shah, F. U., et al.
(författare)
-
Halogen-free chelated orthoborate ionic liquids and organic ionic plastic crystals
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Journal of Materials Chemistry. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 0959-9428 .- 1364-5501. ; 22:14, s. 6928-6938
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Five halogen-free orthoborate salts comprised of three different cations (cholinium, pyrrolidinium and imidazolium) and two orthoborate anions, bis(mandelato) borate and bis(salicylato) borate, were synthesised and characterised by DSC, X-ray diffraction and NMR. DSC measurements revealed that glass transition points of these orthoborate salts are in the temperature range from -18 to -2 degrees C. In addition, it was found that [EMPy][BScB] and [EMIm][BScB] salts have solid-solid phase transitions below their melting points, i.e. they exhibit typical features of plastic crystals. Salts of the bis(salicylato) borate anion [BScB](-) have higher melting points compared with corresponding salts of the bis(mandelato) borate anion [BMB](-). Single crystal X-ray diffraction crystallography (for [Chol][BScB] crystals) and solid-state multinuclear (C-13, B-11 and N-15) NMR spectroscopy were employed for the structural characterisation of [Chol][BScB], [EMPy][BScB] and [EMIm][BScB], which are solids at room temperature: a strong interaction between [BScB](-) anions and [Chol](+) cations was identified as (i) hydrogen bonding between OH of [Chol](+) and carbonyl groups of [BScB](-) and (ii) as the inductive C-H center dot center dot center dot pi interaction. In the other salt, [EMIm][BScB], anions exhibit pi center dot center dot center dot pi stacking in combination with C-H center dot center dot center dot pi interactions with [EMIm]+ cations. These interactions were not identified in [EMPy] [BScB] probably because of the lack of aromaticity in cations of the latter system. Our data on the formation of a lanthanum complex with bis(salicylato) borate in the liquid mixture of La3+(aq) with [Chol][BScB] suggest that this class of novel ILs can be potentially used in the extraction processes of metal ions of rare earth elements.
|
|
| 3. |
- Forsyth, C., et al.
(författare)
-
In situ spatiotemporal measurements of the detailed azimuthal substructure of the substorm current wedge
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics. - 2169-9380. ; 119:2, s. 927-946
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The substorm current wedge (SCW) is a fundamental component of geomagnetic substorms. Models tend to describe the SCW as a simple line current flowing into the ionosphere toward dawn and out of the ionosphere toward dusk, linked by a westward electrojet. We use multispacecraft observations from perigee passes of the Cluster 1 and 4 spacecraft during a substorm on 15 January 2010, in conjunction with ground-based observations, to examine the spatial structuring and temporal variability of the SCW. At this time, the spacecraft traveled east-west azimuthally above the auroral region. We show that the SCW has significant azimuthal substructure on scales of 100km at altitudes of 4000-7000km. We identify 26 individual current sheets in the Cluster 4 data and 34 individual current sheets in the Cluster 1 data, with Cluster 1 passing through the SCW 120-240s after Cluster 4 at 1300-2000km higher altitude. Both spacecraft observed large-scale regions of net upward and downward field-aligned current, consistent with the large-scale characteristics of the SCW, although sheets of oppositely directed currents were observed within both regions. We show that the majority of these current sheets were closely aligned to a north-south direction, in contrast to the expected east-west orientation of the preonset aurora. Comparing our results with observations of the field-aligned current associated with bursty bulk flows (BBFs), we conclude that significant questions remain for the explanation of SCW structuring by BBF-driven wedgelets. Our results therefore represent constraints on future modeling and theoretical frameworks on the generation of the SCW.
|
|
| 4. |
- Nakamura, R., et al.
(författare)
-
Low- altitude electron acceleration due to multiple flow bursts in themagnetotail
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Geophysical Research Letters. - 0094-8276 .- 1944-8007. ; 41:3, s. 777-784
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- At 10:00 UT on 25 February 2008, Cluster 1 spacecraft crossed the near-midnight auroral zone, at about 2R(E) altitude, while two of the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions During Substorms (THEMIS) spacecraft, THD and THE, observed multiple flow bursts on the near-conjugate plasma sheet field lines. The flow shear pattern at THEMIS was consistent with the vortical motion at duskside of a localized flow channel. Coinciding in time with the flow bursts, Cluster 1 observed bursts of counterstreaming electrons with mostly low energies (441eV), accompanied by short time scale (<5s) magnetic field disturbances embedded in flow-associated field-aligned current systems. This conjugate event not only confirms the idea that the plasma sheet flows are the driver of the kinetic Alfven waves accelerating the low-energy electrons but is a unique observation of disturbances in the high-altitude auroral region relevant to the multiple plasma sheet flows. Key Points First observation of multiple flow signatures on near-conjugate flux tubes Low-energy electron profile suggests Alfvenic acceleration due to fast flow Multiple flow bursts are obtained to extend over large radial distance in tail
|
|
