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- 2017
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In: Physical Review D. - 2470-0010 .- 2470-0029. ; 96:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)
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- Berthomier, M., et al.
(author)
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Alfven : magnetosphere-ionosphere connection explorers
- 2012
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In: Experimental astronomy. - Dordrecht : Springer. - 0922-6435 .- 1572-9508. ; 33:2-3, s. 445-489
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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.
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- Forsyth, C., et al.
(author)
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In situ spatiotemporal measurements of the detailed azimuthal substructure of the substorm current wedge
- 2014
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In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics. - 2169-9380. ; 119:2, s. 927-946
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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.
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- Carter, J. A., et al.
(author)
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Ground-based and additional science support for SMILE
- 2024
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In: Earth and Planetary Physics. - : Science Press. - 2096-3955. ; 8:1, s. 275-298
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The joint European Space Agency and Chinese Academy of Sciences Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) mission will explore global dynamics of the magnetosphere under varying solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field conditions, and simultaneously monitor the auroral response of the Northern Hemisphere ionosphere. Combining these large-scale responses with medium and fine-scale measurements at a variety of cadences by additional ground-based and space-based instruments will enable a much greater scientific impact beyond the original goals of the SMILE mission. Here, we describe current community efforts to prepare for SMILE, and the benefits and context various experiments that have explicitly expressed support for SMILE can offer. A dedicated group of international scientists representing many different experiment types and geographical locations, the Ground-based and Additional Science Working Group, is facilitating these efforts. Preparations include constructing an online SMILE Data Fusion Facility, the discussion of particular or special modes for experiments such as coherent and incoherent scatter radar, and the consideration of particular observing strategies and spacecraft conjunctions. We anticipate growing interest and community engagement with the SMILE mission, and we welcome novel ideas and insights from the solar-terrestrial community.
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- Forsyth, C., et al.
(author)
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Temporal evolution and electric potential structure of the auroral acceleration region from multispacecraft measurements
- 2012
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In: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 117:12, s. A12203-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Bright aurorae can be excited by the acceleration of electrons into the atmosphere in violation of ideal magnetohydrodynamics. Modeling studies predict that the accelerating electric potential consists of electric double layers at the boundaries of an acceleration region but observations suggest that particle acceleration occurs throughout this region. Using multispacecraft observations from Cluster, we have examined two upward current regions on 14 December 2009. Our observations show that the potential difference below C4 and C3 changed by up to 1.7 kV between their respective crossings, which were separated by 150 s. The field-aligned current density observed by C3 was also larger than that observed by C4. The potential drop above C3 and C4 was approximately the same in both crossings. Using a novel technique of quantitively comparing the electron spectra measured by Cluster 1 and 3, which were separated in altitude, we determine when these spacecraft made effectively magnetically conjugate observations, and we use these conjugate observations to determine the instantaneous distribution of the potential drop in the AAR. Our observations show that an average of 15% of the potential drop in the AAR was located between C1 at 6235 km and C3 at 4685 km altitude, with a maximum potential drop between the spacecraft of 500 V, and that the majority of the potential drop was below C3. Assuming a spatial invariance along the length of the upward current region, we discuss these observations in terms of temporal changes and the vertical structure of the electrostatic potential drop and in the context of existing models and previous single- and multispacecraft observations.
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- Varsani, A., et al.
(author)
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Cluster observations of the substructure of a flux transfer event : analysis of high-time-resolution particle data
- 2014
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In: Annales Geophysicae. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 0992-7689 .- 1432-0576. ; 32:9, s. 1093-1117
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Flux transfer events (FTEs) are signatures of transient reconnection at the dayside magnetopause, transporting flux from the dayside of the magnetosphere into the magnetotail lobes. They have previously been observed to contain a combination of magnetosheath and magnetospheric plasma. On 12 February 2007, the four Cluster spacecraft were widely separated across the magnetopause and observed a crater-like FTE as they crossed the Earth's dayside magnetopause through its low-latitude boundary layer. The particle instruments on the Cluster spacecraft were in burst mode and returning data providing 3-D velocity distribution functions (VDFs) at 4 s resolution during the observation of this FTE. Moreover, the magnetic field observed during the event remained closely aligned with the spacecraft spin axis and thus we have been able to use these 3-D data to reconstruct nearly full pitch angle distributions of electrons and ions at high time resolution (up to 32 times faster than available from the normal mode data stream). These observations within the boundary layer and inside the core of the FTE show that both the interior and the surrounding structure of the FTE consist of multiple individual layers of plasma, in greater number than previously identified. Our observations show a cold plasma inside the core, a thin layer of antiparallel-moving electrons at the edge of FTE itself, and field-aligned ions with Alfvenic speeds at the trailing edge of the FTE. We discuss the plasma characteristics in these FTE layers, their possible relevance to the magnetopause reconnection processes and attempt to distinguish which of the various different FTE models may be relevant in this case. These data are particularly relevant given the impending launch of NASA's MMS mission, for which similar observations are expected to be more routine.
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- Branduardi-Raymont, G., et al.
(author)
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Exploring solar-terrestrial interactions via multiple imaging observers
- 2022
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In: Experimental astronomy. - : Springer Nature. - 0922-6435 .- 1572-9508. ; 54:2-3, s. 361-390
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- How does solar wind energy flow through the Earth's magnetosphere, how is it converted and distributed? is the question we want to address. We need to understand how geomagnetic storms and substorms start and grow, not just as a matter of scientific curiosity, but to address a clear and pressing practical problem: space weather, which can influence the performance and reliability of our technological systems, in space and on the ground, and can endanger human life and health. Much knowledge has already been acquired over the past decades, particularly by making use of multiple spacecraft measuring conditions in situ, but the infant stage of space weather forecasting demonstrates that we still have a vast amount of learning to do. A novel global approach is now being taken by a number of space imaging missions which are under development and the first tantalising results of their exploration will be available in the next decade. In this White Paper, submitted to ESA in response to the Voyage 2050 Call, we propose the next step in the quest for a complete understanding of how the Sun controls the Earth's plasma environment: a tomographic imaging approach comprising two spacecraft in highly inclined polar orbits, enabling global imaging of magnetopause and cusps in soft X-rays, of auroral regions in FUV, of plasmasphere and ring current in EUV and ENA (Energetic Neutral Atoms), alongside in situ measurements. Such a mission, encompassing the variety of physical processes determining the conditions of geospace, will be crucial on the way to achieving scientific closure on the question of solar-terrestrial interactions.
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