| 1. |
- Le Contel, O., et al.
(author)
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Whistler mode waves and Hall fields detected by MMS during a dayside magnetopause crossing
- 2016
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In: Geophysical Research Letters. - : Blackwell Publishing. - 0094-8276 .- 1944-8007. ; 43:12, s. 5943-5952
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission measurements during a full magnetopause crossing associated with an enhanced southward ion flow. A quasi-steady magnetospheric whistler mode wave emission propagating toward the reconnection region with quasi-parallel and oblique wave angles is detected just before the opening of the magnetic field lines and the detection of escaping energetic electrons. Its source is likely the perpendicular temperature anisotropy of magnetospheric energetic electrons. In this region, perpendicular and parallel currents as well as the Hall electric field are calculated and found to be consistent with the decoupling of ions from the magnetic field and the crossing of a magnetospheric separatrix region. On the magnetosheath side, Hall electric fields are found smaller as the density is larger but still consistent with the decoupling of ions. Intense quasi-parallel whistler wave emissions are detected propagating both toward and away from the reconnection region in association with a perpendicular anisotropy of the high-energy part of the magnetosheath electron population and a strong perpendicular current, which suggests that in addition to the electron diffusion region, magnetosheath separatrices could be a source region for whistler waves.
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| 2. |
- Breuillard, H., et al.
(author)
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Multispacecraft analysis of dipolarization fronts and associated whistler wave emissions using MMS data
- 2016
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In: Geophysical Research Letters. - : Blackwell Publishing. - 0094-8276 .- 1944-8007. ; 43:14, s. 7279-7286
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Dipolarization fronts (DFs), embedded in bursty bulk flows, play a crucial role in Earth's plasma sheet dynamics because the energy input from the solar wind is partly dissipated in their vicinity. This dissipation is in the form of strong low-frequency waves that can heat and accelerate energetic electrons up to the high-latitude plasma sheet. However, the dynamics of DF propagation and associated low-frequency waves in the magnetotail are still under debate due to instrumental limitations and spacecraft separation distances. In May 2015 the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission was in a string-of-pearls configuration with an average intersatellite distance of 160km, which allows us to study in detail the microphysics of DFs. Thus, in this letter we employ MMS data to investigate the properties of dipolarization fronts propagating earthward and associated whistler mode wave emissions. We show that the spatial dynamics of DFs are below the ion gyroradius scale in this region (approximate to 500km), which can modify the dynamics of ions in the vicinity of the DF (e.g., making their motion nonadiabatic). We also show that whistler wave dynamics have a temporal scale of the order of the ion gyroperiod (a few seconds), indicating that the perpendicular temperature anisotropy can vary on such time scales.
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| 3. |
- Ergun, R. E., et al.
(author)
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The Axial Double Probe and Fields Signal Processing for the MMS Mission
- 2016
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In: Space Science Reviews. - : Springer Netherlands. - 0038-6308 .- 1572-9672. ; 199:1-4, s. 167-188
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Axial Double Probe (ADP) instrument measures the DC to similar to 100 kHz electric field along the spin axis of the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft (Burch et al., Space Sci. Rev., 2014, this issue), completing the vector electric field when combined with the spin plane double probes (SDP) (Torbert et al., Space Sci. Rev., 2014, this issue, Lindqvist et al., Space Sci. Rev., 2014, this issue). Two cylindrical sensors are separated by over 30 m tip-to-tip, the longest baseline on an axial DC electric field ever attempted in space. The ADP on each of the spacecraft consists of two identical, 12.67 m graphite coilable booms with second, smaller 2.25 m booms mounted on their ends. A significant effort was carried out to assure that the potential field of the MMS spacecraft acts equally on the two sensors and that photo- and secondary electron currents do not vary over the spacecraft spin. The ADP on MMS is expected to measure DC electric field with a precision of similar to 1 mV/m, a resolution of similar to 25 mu V/m, and a range of similar to 1 V/m in most of the plasma environments MMS will encounter. The Digital Signal Processing (DSP) units on the MMS spacecraft are designed to perform analog conditioning, analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion, and digital processing on the ADP, SDP, and search coil magnetometer (SCM) (Le Contel et al., Space Sci. Rev., 2014, this issue) signals. The DSP units include digital filters, spectral processing, a high-speed burst memory, a solitary structure detector, and data compression. The DSP uses precision analog processing with, in most cases, > 100 dB in dynamic range, better that -80 dB common mode rejection in electric field (E) signal processing, and better that -80 dB cross talk between the E and SCM (B) signals. The A/D conversion is at 16 bits with similar to 1/4 LSB accuracy and similar to 1 LSB noise. The digital signal processing is powerful and highly flexible allowing for maximum scientific return under a limited telemetry volume. The ADP and DSP are described in this article.
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| 4. |
- Le Contel, O., et al.
(author)
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The Search-Coil Magnetometer for MMS
- 2016
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In: Space Science Reviews. - : Springer Netherlands. - 0038-6308 .- 1572-9672. ; 199:1-4, s. 257-282
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The tri-axial search-coil magnetometer (SCM) belongs to the FIELDS instrumentation suite on the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission (Torbert et al. in Space Sci. Rev. (2014), this issue). It provides the three magnetic components of the waves from 1 Hz to 6 kHz in particular in the key regions of the Earth's magnetosphere namely the subsolar region and the magnetotail. Magnetospheric plasmas being collisionless, such a measurement is crucial as the electromagnetic waves are thought to provide a way to ensure the conversion from magnetic to thermal and kinetic energies allowing local or global reconfigurations of the Earth's magnetic field. The analog waveforms provided by the SCM are digitized and processed inside the digital signal processor (DSP), within the Central Electronics Box (CEB), together with the electric field data provided by the spin-plane double probe (SDP) and the axial double probe (ADP). On-board calibration signal provided by DSP allows the verification of the SCM transfer function once per orbit. Magnetic waveforms and on-board spectra computed by DSP are available at different time resolution depending on the selected mode. The SCM design is described in details as well as the different steps of the ground and in-flight calibrations.
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| 5. |
- Torbert, R. B., et al.
(author)
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The FIELDS Instrument Suite on MMS : Scientific Objectives, Measurements, and Data Products
- 2016
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In: Space Science Reviews. - : Springer Science+Business Media B.V.. - 0038-6308 .- 1572-9672. ; 199:1-4, s. 105-135
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The FIELDS instrumentation suite on the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission provides comprehensive measurements of the full vector magnetic and electric fields in the reconnection regions investigated by MMS, including the dayside magnetopause and the night-side magnetotail acceleration regions out to 25 Re. Six sensors on each of the four MMS spacecraft provide overlapping measurements of these fields with sensitive cross-calibrations both before and after launch. The FIELDS magnetic sensors consist of redundant flux-gate magnetometers (AFG and DFG) over the frequency range from DC to 64 Hz, a search coil magnetometer (SCM) providing AC measurements over the full whistler mode spectrum expected to be seen on MMS, and an Electron Drift Instrument (EDI) that calibrates offsets for the magnetometers. The FIELDS three-axis electric field measurements are provided by two sets of biased double-probe sensors (SDP and ADP) operating in a highly symmetric spacecraft environment to reduce significantly electrostatic errors. These sensors are complemented with the EDI electric measurements that are free from all local spacecraft perturbations. Cross-calibrated vector electric field measurements are thus produced from DC to 100 kHz, well beyond the upper hybrid resonance whose frequency provides an accurate determination of the local electron density. Due to its very large geometric factor, EDI also provides very high time resolution (similar to 1 ms) ambient electron flux measurements at a few selected energies near 1 keV. This paper provides an overview of the FIELDS suite, its science objectives and measurement requirements, and its performance as verified in calibration and cross-calibration procedures that result in anticipated errors less than 0.1 nT in B and 0.5 mV/m in E. Summaries of data products that result from FIELDS are also described, as well as algorithms for cross-calibration. Details of the design and performance characteristics of AFG/DFG, SCM, ADP, SDP, and EDI are provided in five companion papers.
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| 6. |
- Lindqvist, Per-Arne, 1954-, et al.
(author)
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The Spin-Plane Double Probe Electric Field Instrument for MMS
- 2016
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In: Space Science Reviews. - : Springer Science+Business Media B.V.. - 0038-6308 .- 1572-9672. ; 199:1-4, s. 137-165
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Spin-plane double probe instrument (SDP) is part of the FIELDS instrument suite of the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission (MMS). Together with the Axial double probe instrument (ADP) and the Electron Drift Instrument (EDI), SDP will measure the 3-D electric field with an accuracy of 0.5 mV/m over the frequency range from DC to 100 kHz. SDP consists of 4 biased spherical probes extended on 60 m long wire booms 90(a similar to) apart in the spin plane, giving a 120 m baseline for each of the two spin-plane electric field components. The mechanical and electrical design of SDP is described, together with results from ground tests and calibration of the instrument.
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