[1] The role of waves and turbulence in the process of magnetic reconnection has been the subject of a great deal of studies and debates in the theoretical literature. Here we report the Cluster observations of electrostatic and electromagnetic waves near the lower hybrid frequency in the reconnection region with a thin current sheet. During the crossing of the separatrix with the reversal of plasma flow and Hall magnetic fields, strong electrostatic fluctuations near the lower hybrid frequency were observed, and the waves were polarized with a large angle to the ambient magnetic field. Strong electromagnetic fluctuations were observed in the center of the current sheet in the diffusion region. The dispersion properties of the electromagnetic wave are studied by using the interferometer method and are compared with the properties of lower hybrid drift instability. The role of the waves in reconnection is discussed.
[1] In this paper, we report observations from a Cluster satellite showing that ULF wave occurred in the outer boundary of a plasmaspheric plume on September 4, 2005. The band of observed ULF waves is between the He + ion gyrofrequency and O + ion gyrofrequency at the equatorial plane, implying that those ULF waves can be identified as EMIC waves generated by ring current ions in the equatorial plane and strongly affected by rich cold He + ions in plasmaspheric plumes. During the interval of observed EMIC waves, the footprint of Cluster SC3 lies in a subauroral proton arc observed by the IMAGE FUV instrument, demonstrating that the subauroral proton arc was caused by energetic ring current protons scattered into the loss cone under the Ring Current (RC)-EMIC interaction in the plasmaspheric plume. Therefore, the paper provides a direct proof that EMIC waves can be generated in the plasmaspheric plume and scatter RC ions to cause subauroral proton arcs. Citation: Yuan, Z., X. Deng, X. Lin, Y. Pang, M. Zhou, P. M. E. Décréau, J. G. Trotignon, E. Lucek, H. U. Frey, and J. Wang (2010), Link between EMIC waves in a plasmaspheric plume and a detached sub-auroral proton arc with observations of Cluster and IMAGE satellites, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L07108,
[1] 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.
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