A new method is described to analyze the dimensional character of observed structures using multipoint magnetic field measurements of four or more spacecraft. The technique can provide three directions along which the magnetic field has the minimum, intermediate, and maximum derivatives if the magnetic gradient tensor G = ∇ at every moment has been estimated by multipoint measurements. It follows that the structure's dimensionality and the variation direction can be directly determined. Both Cluster observations and simulations have shown that it is feasible to obtain the invariant axis orientation for two‐dimensional structures such as flux tubes, and to find the normal directions for one‐dimensional structures such as discontinuities. One advantage of this method is that these directions can be determined instantaneously, point by point in the time series, and so can be tracked through each observed structure. The analysis tool provides us a new perspective of the observed structures in the space.

Energetic electron and ion (electrons: 30 keV to 500 keV, protons: 30 keV to 1.5 MeV) flux variations associated with ultralow frequency (ULF) waves in the dayside magnetosphere were observed during the CLUSTER's perigee pass near 0900 MLT on Oct. 31, 2003. The ULF modulation terminated where higher frequency fluctuations appeared, as the CLUSTER spacecraft entered the plasmasphere boundary layer (PBL) where the plasma ion density was elevated. In the region from L ∼ 5.0 to 10, the periods of the ion flux modulation and the electron flux modulation are same but out‐of‐phase. The observed magnetic ULF pulsations are dominated by the toroidal mode, along with a relatively weaker poloidal wave. A 90° phase shift between the radial electric field and the azimuthal magnetic field indicates that dominating toroidal standing waves observed at the southern hemisphere are a fundamental harmonic. This study shows that the modulation of the electron flux is dominated by the toroidal mode in the region of L > 7.5. The observations made in this analysis suggest the excitation of the energetic electron drift resonance at around 127 keV.

[1] Magnetic flux transfer events (FTEs) are signatures of unsteady magnetic reconnection, often observed at planetary magnetopauses. Their generation mechanism, a key ingredient determining how they regulate the transfer of solar wind energy into magnetospheres, is still largely unknown. We report THEMIS spacecraft observations on 2007-06-14 of an FTE generated by multiple X-line reconnection at the dayside magnetopause. The evidence consists of (1) two oppositely-directed ion jets converging toward the FTE that was slowly moving southward, (2) the cross-section of the FTE core being elongated along the magnetopause normal, probably squeezed by the oppositely-directed jets, and (3) bidirectional field-aligned fluxes of energetic electrons in the magnetosheath, indicating reconnection on both sides of the FTE. The observations agree well with a global magnetohydrodynamic model of the FTE generation under large geomagnetic dipole tilt, which implies the efficiency of magnetic flux transport into the magnetotail being lower for larger dipole tilt. Citation: Hasegawa, H., et al. (2010), Evidence for a flux transfer event generated by multiple X-line reconnection at the magnetopause, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L16101,

[1] The structure of a thin current sheet prior to the expansion onset of a substorm event that occurred on 26 February 2008 is studied in the near-Earth magnetotail on the basis of Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions During Substorms (THEMIS) observations. During this time interval, the ion distribution showed mushroom-shaped structures with clear nongyrotropic features, indicating that the warmer component of the ions was unmagnetized, which becomes possible only if the gyroradii of these ions are comparable with the current sheet thickness. By comparing the observations with the model proposed by Sitnov et al. (2003), which is a modification of the Harris (1962) model by considering the effect of the meandering ions in thin current sheets, we reconstruct the current sheet structure in the late growth phase of the substorm. Warmer ions, mostly following meandering orbits across the neutral sheet, are found to remarkably alter the current sheet profiles and therefore play an important role in the formation of the thin current sheet.

[1] Sudden impulses (SIs) are an important source of ultra low frequency (ULF) wave activity throughout the Earth's magnetosphere. Most SI-induced ULF wave events have been reported in the dayside magnetosphere; it is not clear when and how SIs drive ULF wave activity in the nightside plasma sheet. We examined the ULF response of the nightside plasma sheet to SIs using an ensemble of 13 SI events observed by THEMIS (Timed History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms) satellites (probes). Only three of these events resulted in ULF wave activity. The periods of the waves are found to be 3.3, 6.0, and 7.6 min. East-west magnetic and radial electric field perturbations, which typically indicate the toroidal mode, are found to be stronger and can have phase relationships consistent with standing waves. Our results suggest that the two largest-amplitude ULF responses to SIs in the nightside plasma sheet are tailward-moving vortices, which have previously been reported, and the dynamic response of cross-tail currents in the magnetotail to maintain force balance with the solar wind, which has not previously been reported as a ULF wave driver. Both mechanisms could potentially drive standing Alfvén waves (toroidal modes) observed via the field-line resonance mechanism. Furthermore, both involve frequency selection and a preference for certain driving conditions that can explain the small number of ULF wave events associated with SIs in the nightside plasma sheet.Citation: Shi, Q. Q., et al. (2013), THEMIS observations of ULF wave excitation in the nightside plasma sheet during sudden impulse events,