| 1. |
- Sitnov, Mikhail, et al.
(författare)
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Explosive Magnetotail Activity
- 2019
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Ingår i: Space Science Reviews. - : Springer. - 0038-6308 .- 1572-9672. ; 215:4
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Modes and manifestations of the explosive activity in the Earth's magnetotail, as well as its onset mechanisms and key pre-onset conditions are reviewed. Two mechanisms for the generation of the pre-onset current sheet are discussed, namely magnetic flux addition to the tail lobes, or other high-latitude perturbations, and magnetic flux evacuation from the near-Earth tail associated with dayside reconnection. Reconnection onset may require stretching and thinning of the sheet down to electron scales. It may also start in thicker sheets in regions with a tailward gradient of the equatorial magnetic field Bz; in this case it begins as an ideal-MHD instability followed by the generation of bursty bulk flows and dipolarization fronts. Indeed, remote sensing and global MHD modeling show the formation of tail regions with increased Bz, prone to magnetic reconnection, ballooning/interchange and flapping instabilities. While interchange instability may also develop in such thicker sheets, it may grow more slowly compared to tearing and cause secondary reconnection locally in the dawn-dusk direction. Post-onset transients include bursty flows and dipolarization fronts, micro-instabilities of lower-hybrid-drift and whistler waves, as well as damped global flux tube oscillations in the near-Earth region. They convert the stretched tail magnetic field energy into bulk plasma acceleration and collisionless heating, excitation of a broad spectrum of plasma waves, and collisional dissipation in the ionosphere. Collisionless heating involves ion reflection from fronts, Fermi, betatron as well as other, non-adiabatic, mechanisms. Ionospheric manifestations of some of these magnetotail phenomena are discussed. Explosive plasma phenomena observed in the laboratory, the solar corona and solar wind are also discussed.
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| 2. |
- Nakamura, Rumi, et al.
(författare)
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Multiscale Currents Observed by MMS in the Flow Braking Region
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research - Space Physics. - : AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION. - 2169-9380 .- 2169-9402. ; 123:2, s. 1260-1278
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present characteristics of current layers in the off-equatorial near-Earth plasma sheet boundary observed with high time-resolution measurements from the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission during an intense substorm associated with multiple dipolarizations. The four Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft, separated by distances of about 50 km, were located in the southern hemisphere in the dusk portion of a substorm current wedge. They observed fast flow disturbances (up to about 500 km/s), most intense in the dawn-dusk direction. Field-aligned currents were observed initially within the expanding plasma sheet, where the flow and field disturbances showed the distinct pattern expected in the braking region of localized flows. Subsequently, intense thin field-aligned current layers were detected at the inner boundary of equatorward moving flux tubes together with Earthward streaming hot ions. Intense Hall current layers were found adjacent to the field-aligned currents. In particular, we found a Hall current structure in the vicinity of the Earthward streaming ion jet that consisted of mixed ion components, that is, hot unmagnetized ions, cold ExB drifting ions, and magnetized electrons. Our observations show that both the near-Earth plasma jet diversion and the thin Hall current layers formed around the reconnection jet boundary are the sites where diversion of the perpendicular currents take place that contribute to the observed field-aligned current pattern as predicted by simulations of reconnection jets. Hence, multiscale structure of flow braking is preserved in the field-aligned currents in the off-equatorial plasma sheet and is also translated to ionosphere to become a part of the substorm field-aligned current system.
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| 3. |
- Nakamura, Rumi, et al.
(författare)
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Near-Earth plasma sheet boundary dynamics during substorm dipolarization
- 2017
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Ingår i: Earth Planets and Space. - : Springer Berlin/Heidelberg. - 1343-8832 .- 1880-5981. ; 69
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on the large-scale evolution of dipolarization in the near-Earth plasma sheet during an intense (AL similar to -1000 nT) substorm on August 10, 2016, when multiple spacecraft at radial distances between 4 and 15 RE were present in the night-side magnetosphere. This global dipolarization consisted of multiple short-timescale (a couple of minutes) Bz disturbances detected by spacecraft distributed over 9 MLT, consistent with the large-scale substorm current wedge observed by ground-based magnetometers. The four spacecraft of the Magnetospheric Multiscale were located in the southern hemisphere plasma sheet and observed fast flow disturbances associated with this dipolarization. The high-time-resolution measurements from MMS enable us to detect the rapid motion of the field structures and flow disturbances separately. A distinct pattern of the flow and field disturbance near the plasma boundaries was found. We suggest that a vortex motion created around the localized flows resulted in another fieldaligned current system at the off-equatorial side of the BBF-associated R1/R2 systems, as was predicted by the MHD simulation of a localized reconnection jet. The observations by GOES and Geotail, which were located in the opposite hemisphere and local time, support this view. We demonstrate that the processes of both Earthward flow braking and of accumulated magnetic flux evolving tailward also control the dynamics in the boundary region of the near-Earth plasma sheet.
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| 4. |
- Oka, Mitsuo, et al.
(författare)
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Particle Acceleration by Magnetic Reconnection in Geospace
- 2023
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Ingår i: Space Science Reviews. - : Springer. - 0038-6308 .- 1572-9672. ; 219
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Particles are accelerated to very high, non-thermal energies during explosive energy-release phenomena in space, solar, and astrophysical plasma environments. While it has been established that magnetic reconnection plays an important role in the dynamics of Earth's magnetosphere, it remains unclear how magnetic reconnection can further explain particle acceleration to non-thermal energies. Here we review recent progress in our understanding of particle acceleration by magnetic reconnection in Earth's magnetosphere. With improved resolutions, recent spacecraft missions have enabled detailed studies of particle acceleration at various structures such as the diffusion region, separatrix, jets, magnetic islands (flux ropes), and dipolarization front. With the guiding-center approximation of particle motion, many studies have discussed the relative importance of the parallel electric field as well as the Fermi and betatron effects. However, in order to fully understand the particle acceleration mechanism and further compare with particle acceleration in solar and astrophysical plasma environments, there is a need for further investigation of, for example, energy partition and the precise role of turbulence.
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| 5. |
- Zhou, Xu-Zhi, et al.
(författare)
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On the Origin of Perpendicular Ion Anisotropy Inside Dipolarizing Flux Bundles
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research - Space Physics. - 2169-9380 .- 2169-9402. ; 124:6, s. 4009-4021
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Perpendicular anisotropy of suprathermal ions, observed inside some of the dipolarizing flux bundles (DFBs) in the magnetotail plasma sheet, have been attributed to successive, betatron-type accelerations during the DFB entry of ambient ions. It has been unclear, however, where and how these ions enter the DFBs. The proposed locations include the DFB flanks where cross-tail drifting ions are picked up, and the DFB leading edge with sharp magnetic field gradient (the dipolarization front, DF). Here we examine the latter scenario, based on a simplistic, test particle approach, to predict the preferred conditions for the appearance of the DFB ion anisotropy. Our model predicts that the ion anisotropy would be stronger at locations closer to the neutral sheet and would appear preferentially in the DFB dawnside and central sectors rather than the duskside sector. We also predict that the ion anisotropy would more likely be observed in DFBs with higher propagation speeds. These properties can be understood in our model by the dawnward drift of ions during their DF penetration (attributed to the large magnetic gradient). To examine these predictions, we carry out a statistical survey based on observations from the THEMIS (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms) mission, to show a clear dependence of the ion anisotropy on spacecraft location and the DFB propagation speed. These findings, therefore, are consistent with the scenario that the perpendicular ion anisotropy originates from the ion acceleration and penetration across sharp DFs.
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