| 1. |
- Hamrin, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Geomagnetic activity effects on plasma sheet energy conversion
- 2010
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Ingår i: Annales Geophysicae. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 0992-7689 .- 1432-0576. ; 28, s. 1813-1825
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this article we use three years (2001, 2002, and 2004) of Cluster plasma sheet data to investigate what happens to localized energy conversion regions (ECRs) in the plasma sheet during times of high magnetospheric activity. By examining variations in the power density, E·J, where E is the electric field and J is the current density obtained by Cluster, we have studied the influence on Concentrated Load Regions (CLRs) and Concentrated Generator Regions (CGRs) from variations in the geomagnetic disturbance level as expressed by the Kp, the AE, and the Dst indices. We find that the ECR occurrence frequency increases during higher magnetospheric activities, and that the ECRs become stronger. This is true both for CLRs and for CGRs, and the localized energy conversion therefore concerns energy conversion in both directions between the particles and the fields in the plasma sheet. A higher geomagnetic activity hence increases the general level of energy conversion in the plasma sheet. Moreover, we have shown that CLRs live longer during magnetically disturbed times, hence converting more electromagnetic energy. The CGR lifetime, on the other hand, seems to be unaffected by the geomagnetic activity level. The evidence for increased energy conversion during geomagnetically disturbed times is most clear for Kp and for AE, but there are also some indications that energy conversion increases during large negative Dst. This is consistent with the plasma sheet magnetically mapping to the auroral zone, and therefore being more tightly coupled to auroral activities and variations in the AE and Kp indices, than to variations in the ring current region as described by the Dst index.
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| 2. |
- Hamrin, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Observations of concentrated generator regions in the nightside magnetosphere by Cluster/FAST conjunctions
- 2006
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Ingår i: Annales Geophysicae. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 0992-7689 .- 1432-0576. ; 24, s. 637-49
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Here and in the companion paper, Marghitu et al. (2006), we investigate plausible auroral generator regions in the nightside auroral magnetosphere. In this article we use magnetically conjugate data from the Cluster and the FAST satellites during a 3.5-h long event from 19-20 September 2001. Cluster is in the Southern Hemisphere close to apogee, where it probes the plasma sheet and lobe at an altitude of about 18 RE. FAST is below the acceleration region at approximately 0.6 RE. Searching for clear signatures of negative power densities, E(.)J < O, in the Cluster data we can identify three concentrated generator regions (CGRs) during our event. From the magnetically conjugate FAST data we see that the observed generator regions in the Cluster data correlate with auroral precipitation. The downward Poynting flux observed by Cluster, as well as the scale size of the CGRs, are consistent with the electron energy flux and the size of the inverted-V regions observed by FAST. To our knowledge, these are the first in-situ observations of the crossing of an auroral generator region. The main contribution to E(.)J < O comes from the GSE E(y)J(y). The electric field E-y is weakly negative during most of our entire event and we conclude that the CGRs occur when the duskward current J(y) grows large and positive. We find that our observations are consistent with a local southward expansion of the plasma sheet and/or rather complicated, 3-D wavy structures propagating over the Cluster satellites. We find that the plasma is working against the magnetic field, and that kinetic energy is being converted into electromagnetic energy. Some of the energy is transported away as Poynting flux.
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| 3. |
- Marghitu, Octav, et al.
(författare)
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Cluster observations of energy conversion regions in the plasma sheet
- 2010
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Ingår i: The Cluster Active Archive. - Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands. - 9789048134984 - 9789048134991 ; , s. 453-459
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cluster allows for the first time a systematic examination of energy conversion, by the evaluation of the power density, E · J, with E the electric field and J the current density. Following a careful inspection of the Cluster plasma sheet data from the summer and fall of 2001, we selected 43 energy conversion regions (ECRs), out of which 26 concentrated load regions (CLRs, E · J > 0) and 17 concentrated generator regions (CGRs, E · J < 0). As expected in the tail, at about 19 RE geocentric distance, the energy conversion is more intense for CLRs, on average some 25 pW∕m3, compared to some 5 pW∕m3 for CGRs. The CLRs are located closer to the neutral sheet and dominated by E and J in the GSE y direction, unlike the CGRs, that prefer locations towards the plasma sheet boundary layer, where the deviations of E and J from the GSE y direction can be significant. The ECRs are often associated with high speed bulk flows, on average faster and hotter for CLRs. The CLRs appear to be associated also with density drop and sometimes with temperature anisotropy, T∥ > T⊥, features which are observed less frequently for CGRs.
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| 4. |
- Marghitu, Octav, et al.
(författare)
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On the divergence of the auroral electrojets
- 2011
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 116:11, s. A00K17-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The current configuration in the auroral region is known to consist typically of downward and upward field-aligned current (FAC) sheets, connected in the ionosphere by meridional Pedersen currents, while divergence free electrojets (EJs) flow azimuthally as Hall currents. This configuration of the auroral current circuit was introduced by Bostrom (1964) and labeled as "Type 2," while he suggested also an alternative "Type 1" configuration, with filamentary FACs connected in the ionosphere by azimuthal Pedersen currents. By using an updated version of the recently developed ALADYN technique, we investigated the divergence of the auroral electrojets for a few FAST crossings over the auroral oval in the 20-22 MLT sector, two of which are presented in detail. Although a precise estimate of the electrojet divergence is difficult, because of several error sources, the results suggest that this divergence can be significant over certain latitude ranges, comparable with the FAC density. Direct FAC-EJ coupling appears to contribute to the ionospheric current closure not only during active times, as already known, but also during rather quiet periods. The quiet time FAC-EJ coupling is likely to be achieved in a mixed "Type 1/Type 2" configuration, with the FAC sheet (Type 1) azimuthally connected to the Pedersen component of the EJ (Type 2). This configuration requires a non-zero tangential component of the electric field, and is therefore more likely realized inside or near the Harang region. At the same time, the divergence of the Hall current is presumably negligible, and likewise the ionospheric polarization, consistent with statistical results published recently. During more active intervals and possible reconfigurations of the auroral current circuit, our results suggest that the FAC-EJ coupling could be also achieved by Hall currents. We conclude by exploring a tentative scenario for the integrated evolution of the ionospheric current closure and Cowling mechanism during the substorm cycle. A systematic examination of more experimental evidence is needed to validate this scenario.
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