Evidence for magnetic field reconnection at the Earth's magnetopause

Sonnerup, B. U. Ö.; Paschmann, G.; Papamastorakis, I.; Sckopke, N.; Haerendel, G.; Bame, S. J.; Asbridge, J. R.; Gosling, J. T.; Russell, C. T.

doi:10.1029/ja086ia12p10049

Cited by 716 publications

(503 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…The reconnection bulge travels from the reconnection point around the magnetopause at approximately 400 km á s )1 (e.g. Sonnerup et al, 1981) and so will cover 3.8 R E in one minute. The average inter-FTE timing for events A to E is 5.8 min so a timing di erence of say 3 min may create some confusion concerning the`true' sequence of events.…”

Section: B 4 January 1998mentioning

confidence: 99%

A survey of magnetopause FTEs and associated flow bursts in the polar ionosphere

et al. 2000

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Abstract. Using the Equator-S spacecraft and Super-DARN HF radars an extensive survey of bursty reconnection at the magnetopause and associated¯ows in the polar ionosphere has been conducted. Flux transfer event (FTE) signatures were identi®ed in the Equator-S magnetometer data during periods of magnetopause contact in January and February 1998. Assuming the e ects of the FTEs propagate to the polar ionosphere as geomagnetic ®eld-aligned-currents and associated AlfveÂ n-waves, appropriate ®eld mappings to the ®elds-of-view of SuperDARN radars were performed. The radars observed discrete ionospheric¯ow channel events (FCEs) of the type previously assumed to be related to pulse reconnection. Such FCEs were associated with 80% of the FTEs and the two signatures are shown to be statistically associated with greater than 99% con®-dence. Exemplary case studies highlight the nature of the ionospheric¯ows and their relation to the high latitude convection pattern, the association methodology, and the problems caused by instrument limitations.

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Section: B 4 January 1998mentioning

confidence: 99%

A survey of magnetopause FTEs and associated flow bursts in the polar ionosphere

et al. 2000

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“…Many previous studies which addressed the location of the reconnection line have concentrated on the observation of high-speed plasma flows in the boundary layers of the magnetopause and their interpretation in terms of the magnetic reconnection process [Paschmann et al, 1979;Sonnerup et al, 1981;1995;Gosling et al, 1990Gosling et al, , 1991Phan et al 2000]. These methods determine the general direction of the location of the reconnection line relative to the spacecraft but do not address the local condition at the reconnection site.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[3] Magnetic reconnection has been shown to occur somewhere at the Earth's magnetopause for any orientation of the IMF [e.g., Sonnerup et al, 1981;Kessel et al, 1996;Fuselier et al, 1991Fuselier et al, , 2000. More typical than the purely southward or northward IMF are conditions with a significant IMF westeast component (B Y 6 ¼ 0).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Probing the boundary between antiparallel and component reconnection during southward interplanetary magnetic field conditions

et al. 2007

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[1] One of the major outstanding questions about magnetic reconnection is where reconnection will occur at the Earth's magnetopause for specific conditions of the solar wind and the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). There are two scenarios discussed in the literature: (1) antiparallel reconnection, which occurs where the magnetospheric magnetic field and the IMF are antiparallel (shear angle of approximately 180°) and (2) component reconnection, where shear angles between the magnetospheric field and the IMF as low as 50°have been reported. The distinction between the two reconnection scenarios is important for the energy and momentum transfer from the solar wind to the magnetosphere. Here we report on a method using three-dimensional plasma observations from the Toroidal Imaging Mass-Angle Spectrograph instrument on the Polar spacecraft as it passes through the northern magnetospheric cusp to calculate the distance to the reconnection line and subsequently trace the distance along model magnetic field lines back to the magnetopause. Results from 130 events reveal that in general, magnetic reconnection occurs along an extended line across the dayside magnetopause (i.e., consistent with the component reconnection scenario). During strong sunward or antisunward IMF conditions (B X ), however, the reconnection location resembles the antiparallel reconnection model at high latitudes and does not cross the dayside magnetopause as a single tilted reconnection line. These results show that either reconnection scenario can occur at the magnetopause, depending on the specific IMF conditions. Citation: Trattner, K. J., J. S. Mulcock, S. M. Petrinec, and S. A. Fuselier (2007), Probing the boundary between antiparallel and component reconnection during southward interplanetary magnetic field conditions,

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“…[2] The occurrence of reconnection at the subsolar [e.g., Paschmann et al, 1979;Sonnerup et al, 1981] and flank [e.g., Gosling et al, 1986;Phan et al, 2001] magnetopause has been well established by single spacecraft in-situ observations. Remote sensing methods have indicated the presence of an X-line spanning a large portion of the dayside magnetopause during southward IMF [Fuselier et al, 2002;Pinnock et al, 2003], but this has not been confirmed by in-situ measurements.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simultaneous Geotail and Wind observations of reconnection at the subsolar and tail flank magnetopause

Phan¹,

Hasegawa²,

Fujimoto³

et al. 2006

Geophysical Research Letters

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[1] We report a fortuitous two-spacecraft conjunction when Geotail and Wind observed the occurrence of reconnection simultaneously at the subsolar and dawn tail flank magnetopause during stable B y dominated IMF. Furthermore, bi-directional jets were observed by Geotail which indicate the presence of an X-line in the subsolar region. These observations are consistent with the presence of a tilted X-line hinged near the subsolar point and spanning the entire dayside (from subsolar to X GSE = À10 R E ) magnetopause, as expected from component reconnection. In addition, our observations do not reveal any thickening of the boundary layer down the flanks, the plasma boundary layer being confined to the reconnecting magnetopause current layer. This suggests that reconnection dominates over diffusive entry or Kelvin-Helmholtz instability at the low latitude magnetopause even when the IMF clock angle is 90°. Citation: Phan, T.

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Evidence for magnetic field reconnection at the Earth's magnetopause

Cited by 716 publications

References 36 publications

A survey of magnetopause FTEs and associated flow bursts in the polar ionosphere

A survey of magnetopause FTEs and associated flow bursts in the polar ionosphere

Probing the boundary between antiparallel and component reconnection during southward interplanetary magnetic field conditions

Simultaneous Geotail and Wind observations of reconnection at the subsolar and tail flank magnetopause

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