Energy Conversion Associated with Flux Transfer Events at Earth’s Magnetopause

Abstract

<p>Flux Transfer Events (FTEs) are transient phenomena generated at the dayside magnetopause as a result of magnetic reconnection. FTEs have a significant role in the transfer of momentum and energy into the magnetosphere. We study here, in a multifluid framework, how the energy is converted within FTEs and their surrounding plasma. In particular we investigate how the plasma gains or loses kinetic energy through electric and/or pressure gradient terms. We also investigate the terms that control how the internal energy of the plasma is gained or dissipated through the pressure work term. Using observations from Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS), we perform a statistical study based on an existing FTE catalog (Fargette et al., 2020). We analyze FTEs with or without internal current sheets. We discuss the contribution of the different terms in the energy conversion process separately for ions and electrons and as a function of location within the FTE. We analyze and compare the results found for FTEs’ intervals with magnetosheath intervals (Wang et al. 2021), taking into account their locations, using probability distribution functions of the various energy terms measured in each interval. This work contributes to a better understanding of energy conversion processes associated with FTEs at the magnetopause.</p>