Diversion of plasma due to high pressure in the inner magnetosphere during steady magnetospheric convection

Kissinger, J.; McPherron, R. L.; Hsu, T.; Angelopoulos, V.

doi:10.1029/2012ja017579

Cited by 75 publications

(111 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Knowledge of these profiles is important for the identification of the most effective instability or select between specific sheet models. Only several statistical studies (Kan and Baumjohann 1990;Wang et al 2009;Kissinger et al 2012;Rong et al 2014), are available now which considered averaged data collected during several years of spacecraft measurements. Potentially data necessary for reconstruction of the instantaneous CS configuration can be provided by five THEMIS spacecraft distributed along the magnetotail .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current Sheets in the Earth Magnetotail: Plasma and Magnetic Field Structure with Cluster Project Observations

et al. 2015

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Thin current sheets having kinetic scales are an important plasma structure, where the magnetic energy dissipation and charged particle acceleration are the most effective. It is believed that such current sheets are self-consistently formed by the specific nonadiabatic dynamics of charged particles and play a critical role in many space plasma and astrophysical objects. Current sheets in the near-Earth plasma environment, e.g., the magnetotail current sheet, are readily available for in-situ investigations. The dedicated multi-spacecraft Cluster mission have revealed basic properties of this current sheet, which are presented in this review: typical spatial profiles of magnetic field and current density, distributions of plasma temperature and density, role of heavy ions and electron currents, etc. Being important for the Earth magnetosphere physics, the new knowledge also could provide the basis for advancement in general plasma physics as well as in plasma astrophysics.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current Sheets in the Earth Magnetotail: Plasma and Magnetic Field Structure with Cluster Project Observations

et al. 2015

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“…Thus, observed correlation between fluxes and B z (or v i ) can be explained by the heating of plasma (increase of T i ) due to dipolarization and enhanced convection. Indeed, many studies (e.g., Baumjohann et al, 1991;Wang et al, 2009;Kissinger et al, 2012) demonstrated that ion temperature T i grows as B z (or v i ) grows. Therefore, the formation of spectra of high-energy ions should be explained by some mechanism which does not involve a large-scale transformation of the magnetic-field configuration.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formation of the high-energy ion population in the earth's magnetotail: spacecraft observations and theoretical models

et al. 2014

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Abstract.We investigate the formation of the high-energy (E ∈ [20, 600] keV) ion population in the earth's magnetotail. We collect statistics of 4 years of Interball / Tail observations (1995)(1996)(1997)(1998) in the vicinity of the neutral plane in the magnetotail region (X < −17 R E , |Y | ≤ 20 R E in geocentric solar magnetospheric (GSM) system). We study the dependence of high-energy ion spectra on the thermal-plasma parameters (the temperature T i and the amplitude of bulk velocity v i ) and on the magnetic-field component B z . The ion population in the energy range E ∈ [20, 600] keV can be separated in the thermal core and the power-law tail with the slope (index) ∼ −4.5. Fluxes of the high-energy ion population increase with the growth of B z , v i and especially T i , but spectrum index seems to be independent on these parameters. We have suggested that the high-energy ion population is generated by small scale transient processes, rather than by the global reconfiguration of the magnetotail. We have proposed the relatively simple and general model of ion acceleration by transient bursts of the electric field. This model describes the power-law energy spectra and predicts typical energies of accelerated ions.

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“…Kissinger et al (2012) have presented the statistical study of the proton temperature magnitude within the plasma sheet using THEMIS (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions During Substorms) data including measurements of high-energy protons (upper energy limit-6 MeV). They have found that in quiet periods, the proton temperature can hardly exceed 10 keV.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The structure of strongly tilted current sheets in the Earth magnetotail

et al. 2014

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Abstract. We investigate strongly tilted (in the y-z GSM plane) current sheets (CSs) in the Earth magnetotail using data from the Cluster mission. We analyze 29 CS crossings observed in [2001][2002][2003][2004]. The characteristic current density, magnetic field at the CS boundary and the CS thickness of strongly tilted CSs are similar to those reported previously for horizontal (not tilted) CSs. We confirm that strongly tilted CSs are generally characterized by a rather large northward component of the magnetic field. The field-aligned current in strongly tilted CSs is on average two times larger than the transverse current. The proton adiabaticity parameter, κ p , is larger than 0.5 in 85 % of strongly tilted CSs due to the large northward magnetic field. Thus, the proton dynamics is stochastic for 18 current sheets with 0.5 < κ p < 3 and protons are magnetized for 6 sheets with κ p > 3, whereas electrons are magnetized for all observed current sheets. Strongly tilted CSs provide a unique opportunity to measure the electric field component perpendicular to the CS plane. We find that most of the electric field perpendicular to the CS plane is due to the decoupling of electron and ion motions (plasma polarization). For 27 CSs we determine profiles of the electrostatic potential, which is due to the plasma polarization. Drops in the potential between the neutral plane and the CS boundary are within the range of 200 V to 12 kV, while maximal values of the electric field are within the range of 0.2 mV m −1 to 8 mV m −1 . For 16 CSs the observed potentials are in accordance with Ohm's law, if the electron current density is assumed to be comparable to the total current density. In 15 of these CSs the profile of the polarization potential is approximately symmetric with respect to the neutral plane and has minimum therein.

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Diversion of plasma due to high pressure in the inner magnetosphere during steady magnetospheric convection

Cited by 75 publications

References 45 publications

Current Sheets in the Earth Magnetotail: Plasma and Magnetic Field Structure with Cluster Project Observations

Current Sheets in the Earth Magnetotail: Plasma and Magnetic Field Structure with Cluster Project Observations

Formation of the high-energy ion population in the earth's magnetotail: spacecraft observations and theoretical models

The structure of strongly tilted current sheets in the Earth magnetotail

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