| 1. |
- Deng, X. H., et al.
(författare)
-
Dynamics and waves near multiple magnetic null points in reconnection diffusion region
- 2009
-
Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - : Blackwell Publishing. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 114:7
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Identifying the magnetic structure in the region where the magnetic field lines break and how reconnection happens is crucial to improving our understanding of three-dimensional reconnection. Here we show the in situ observation of magnetic null structures in the diffusion region, the dynamics, and the associated waves. Possible spiral null pair has been identified near the diffusion region. There is a close relation among the null points, the bipolar signature of the Z component of the magnetic field, and enhancement of the flux of energetic electrons up to 100 keV. Near the null structures, whistler-mode waves were identified by both the polarity and the power law of the spectrum of electric and magnetic fields. It is found that the angle between the fans of the nulls is quite close to the theoretically estimated maximum value of the group-velocity cone angle for the whistler wave regime of reconnection.
|
|
| 2. |
- Frey, H. U., et al.
(författare)
-
Small and meso-scale properties of a substorm onset auroral arc
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 115, s. A10209-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present small and meso-scale properties of a substorm onset arc observed simultaneously by the Reimei and THEMIS satellites together with ground-based observations by the THEMIS GBO system. The optical observations revealed the slow equatorward motion of the growth-phase arc and the development of a much brighter onset arc poleward of it. Both arcs showed the typical particle signature of electrostatic acceleration in an inverted-V structure together with a strong Alfven wave acceleration signature at the poleward edge of the onset arc. Two THEMIS spacecraft encountered earthward flow bursts around the times the expanding optical aurora reached their magnetic footprints in the ionosphere. The particle and field measurements allowed for the reconstruction of the field-aligned current system and the determination of plasma properties in the auroral source region. Auroral arc properties were extracted from the optical and particle measurements and were used to compare measured values to theoretical predictions of the electrodynamic model for the generation of auroral arcs. Good agreement could be reached for the meso-scale arc properties. A qualitative analysis of the internal structuring of the bright onset arc suggests the operation of the tearing instability which provides a 'rope-like' appearance due to advection of the current in the sheared flow across the arc. We also note that for the observed parameters ionospheric conductivity gradients due to electron precipitation will be unstable to the feedback instability in the ionospheric Alfven resonator that can drive structuring in luminosity over the range of scales observed.
|
|
| 3. |
- Hasegawa, H., et al.
(författare)
-
Reconstruction of a bipolar magnetic signature in an earthward jet in the tail : Flux rope or 3D guide-field reconnection?
- 2007
-
Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 112:A11, s. A11206-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Southward-then-northward magnetic perturbations are often seen in the tail plasma sheet, along with earthward jets, but the generation mechanism of such bipolar B-z ( magnetic flux rope created through multiple X-line reconnection, transient reconnection, or else) has been controversial. At similar to 2313 UT on 13 August 2002, Cluster encountered a bipolar B-z at the leading edge of an earthward jet, with one of the four spacecraft in the middle of the current sheet. Application to this bipolar signature of Grad-Shafranov ( GS) reconstruction, the technique for recovery of two-dimensional ( 2D) magnetohydrostatic structures, suggests that a flux rope with diameter of similar to 2 R-E was embedded in the jet. To investigate the validity of the GS results, the technique is applied to synthetic data from a three-dimensional ( 3D) MHD simulation, in which a bipolar B-z can be produced through localized ( 3D) reconnection in the presence of guide field B-y ( Shirataka et al., 2006) without invoking multiple X-lines. A flux rope-type structure, which does not in fact exist in the simulation, is reconstructed but with a shape elongated in the jet direction. Unambiguous identification of a mechanism that leads to an observed bipolar B-z thus seems difficult based on the topological property in the GS maps. We however infer that a flux rope was responsible for the bipolar pulse in this particular Cluster event, because the recovered magnetic structure is roughly circular, suggesting a relaxed and minimum energy state. Our results also indicate that one has to be cautious about interpretation of some ( e. g., force-free, or magnetohydrostatic) model-based results.
|
|
| 4. |
- Keika, K., et al.
(författare)
-
Response of the inner magnetosphere and the plasma sheet to a sudden impulse
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 113:A7, s. A07S35-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- [1] The passage of an interplanetary shock caused a sudden compression of the magnetosphere between 0900 UT and 0915 UT on 24 August 2005. An estimate of the shock normal from solar wind data obtained by Geotail upstream of the bow shock indicates symmetric compression with respect to the noon-midnight meridian. Compression-related disturbances of the magnetic and electric field and plasma motion were observed by Double Star Program (DSP) Tan Ce 1 (TC1) and Tan Ce 2 (TC2) in the inner magnetosphere and by the Cluster spacecraft in the dawnside plasma sheet. DSP/TC1 and TC2 observations suggest that the disturbances in the inner magnetosphere are propagating from the dayside magnetopause. Cluster S/C 4 observations indicate that the front normal of the disturbances in the dawnside plasma sheet is phi similar to 180 degrees at 0902: 50 UT and phi = 107 degrees at 0904: 34 UT, where phi is the longitude in GSM coordinates, if we assume that the measured electric field is on the front plane and the normal lies on the X-Y plane. The timing analysis applied to magnetic field data from the four Cluster spacecraft independently gives a front normal, which is calculated to be phi =131 degrees at about 0904: 20 UT. Shock-associated magnetic and electric field disturbances propagating from both the dayside and flank magnetopauses are detected in the plasma sheet; the latter makes the dominant contribution. Substorms are, however, not triggered at the passage of the disturbances.
|
|
| 5. |
- Nakamura, R., et al.
(författare)
-
Cluster observations of an ion-scale current sheet in the magnetotail under the presence of a guide field
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 113:A7, s. A07S16-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on Cluster observations of a thin current sheet interval under the presence of a strong vertical bar B-Y vertical bar during a fast earthward flow interval between 1655 UT and 1703 UT on 17 August 2003. The strong vertical bar B-Y vertical bar in the tail could be associated with a strong IMF vertical bar B-Y vertical bar, but the large fluctuations in B-Y, not seen in the IMF, suggest that a varying reconnection rate causes a varying transport of B-Y-dominated magnetic flux and/or a change in B-Y due to the Hall-current system. During the encounter of the high-speed flow, an intense current layer was observed around 1655: 53 UT with a peak current density of 182 nA/m(2), the largest current density observed by the Cluster four-spacecraft magnetic field measurement in the magnetotail. The half width of this current layer was estimated to be similar to 290 km, which was comparable to the ion-inertia length. Its unique signature is that the strong current is mainly field-aligned current flowing close to the center of the plasma sheet. The event was associated with parallel heating of electrons with asymmetries, which suggests that electrons moving along the field lines can contribute to a strong dawn-to-dusk current when the magnetotail current sheet becomes sufficiently thin and active in a strong guide field case.
|
|
| 6. |
- Retino, A., et al.
(författare)
-
Cluster observations of energetic electrons and electromagnetic fields within a reconnecting thin current sheet in the Earth's magnetotail
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 113:A12
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We study the acceleration of energetic electrons during magnetotail reconnection by using Cluster simultaneous measurements of three-dimensional electron distribution functions, electric and magnetic fields, and waves in a thin current sheet. We present observations of two consecutive current sheet crossings where the flux of electrons 35 127 keV peaks within an interval of tailward flows. The first crossing shows the signatures of a tailward moving flux rope. The observed magnetic field and density indicate that the flux rope was very dynamic, and a comparison with numerical simulation suggests a crossing right after coalescence of smaller flux ropes. The second crossing occurs within the ion diffusion region. The flux of electrons is largest within the flux rope where they are mainly directed perpendicular to the magnetic field. At the magnetic separatrices, the fluxes are smaller, but the energy spectra are harder and electrons are mainly field aligned. Reconnection electric fields E-Y similar to 7 mV/m are observed within the diffusion region, whereas in the flux rope, EY are much smaller. Waves around lower hybrid frequency do not show a clear correlation with energetic electrons. We interpret the field-aligned electrons at the separatrices as directly accelerated by the reconnection electric field in the diffusion region, whereas we interpret the perpendicular electrons as trapped within the flux rope and accelerated by a combination of betatron acceleration with nonadiabatic pitch-angle scattering. Our observations indicate that thin current sheets during dynamic reconnection are important for in situ production of energetic electrons and that simultaneous measurements of electrons and electromagnetic fields within thin sheets are crucial to understand the acceleration mechanisms.
|
|
| 7. |
- Runov, A., et al.
(författare)
-
Observations of an active thin current sheet
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 113:A7
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We analyze observations of magnetotail current sheet dynamics during a substorm between 2330 and 2400 UT on 28 August 2005 when Cluster was in the plasma sheet at [-17.2, -4.49, 0.03] R-E (GSM) with the foot points near the IMAGE ground-based network. Observations from the Cluster spacecraft, ground-based magnetometers, and the IMAGE satellite showed that the substorm started in a localized region near midnight, expanding azimuthally. A thin current sheet with a thickness of less than 900 km and current density of about 30 nA/m(2) was observed during 5 min around the substorm onset. The thinning of the current sheet was accompanied by tailward plasma flow at a velocity of -700 km/s and subsequent reversal to earthward flow at V-x approximate to 500 km/s coinciding with a B-z turning from -5 to + 10 nT. The analysis of magnetic and electric fields behavior and particle distributions reveals signatures of impulsive (with similar to 1 min timescale) activations of the thin current sheet. These observations were interpreted in the framework of transient reconnection, although the data analysis reveals serious disagreements with the classical 2.5-D X line model.
|
|
