The location and rate of dayside reconnection during an interval of southward interplanetary magnetic field

Pinnock, M.; Chisham, G.; Coleman, I. J.; Freeman, M. P.; Hairston, M. R.; Villain, J. P.

doi:10.5194/angeo-21-1467-2003

Cited by 41 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…In a previous study, under purely southward IMF conditions, Phan et al [2000] had interpreted the repeated detection of reconnection jets emanating from an equatorial X-line by Equator-S and Geotail at the dawn flank magnetopause to signify the presence of a 40 Re X-line spanning the entire dayside equator. Although no in-situ measurements were made at other magnetopause locations (including the subsolar region), radar observations for the same event suggested the presence of such an extended Xline [Pinnock et al, 2003].…”

Section: Component Merging and The Extent Of The X-linementioning

confidence: 99%

“…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. Establishing the presence of extended X-lines in the magnetosphere by in-situ measurements requires the presence of widely separated multi-spacecraft detecting the same reconnection events.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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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Section: Component Merging and The Extent Of The X-linementioning

confidence: 99%

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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“…13 The spatial variation (with MLT) of remote measurements of the magnetopause reconnection rate made from the ionosphere using SuperDARN observations. (a) The reconnection rate variation during an interval of due southward IMF from 1330 to 1400 UT on February 11, 1998 (from Pinnock et al 2003). (b) The reconnection rate variation during an interval of due northward IMF from 1440 to 1520 UT on November 11, 1998 (from Chisham et al 2004b).…”

Section: Reconnection Rate Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Separating the contributions from magnetopause and magnetotail reconnection using SuperDARN measurements of the reconnection rate in the dayside ionosphere, Milan et al (2003b) showed that nightside reconnection following the first substorm lasted less than 200 min, and likely only 100 min-the duration of the recovery phase of the first substorm. Pinnock et al (2003) studied the extent, and spatial and temporal variation of magnetopause reconnection during steady due southward IMF. They derived the ionospheric projection of the magnetopause reconnection rate across the dayside ionosphere, as summarized in Fig.…”

Section: Reconnection Rate Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A decade of the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN): scientific achievements, new techniques and future directions

et al. 2007

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The Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) has been operating as an international co-operative organization for over 10 years. The network has now grown so that the fields of view of its 18 radars cover the majority of the northern and southern hemisphere polar ionospheres. SuperDARN has been successful in addressing a wide range of scientific questions concerning processes in the magnetosphere, ionosphere,

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“…Pinnock et al, 2003) and proton aurora images (e.g. have provided indirect evidence for continuous reconnection lasting many hours.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cluster observations of continuous reconnection at the magnetopause under steady interplanetary magnetic field conditions

et al. 2004

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Abstract. On 26 January 2001, the Cluster spacecraft detected high-speed plasma jets at multiple crossings of the high-latitude duskside magnetopause (MP) and boundary layer (BL) over a period of more than 2 h. The 4 spacecraft combined spent more than half of this time in the MP/BL and jets were observed whenever a spacecraft was in the MP. These observations were made under steady southward and dawnward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) conditions. The magnetic shear across the local MP was ∼100 • and β∼1 in the adjacent magnetosheath. The jet velocity is in remarkable agreement with reconnection prediction throughout the entire interval, except for one crossing that had no ion measurements inside the current layer. The flow speed measured in the deHoffmann Teller frame is 90% of the Alfvén speed on average for the 10 complete MP current layer crossings that are resolved by the ion measurements. These findings strongly suggest that reconnection was continuously active for more than two hours. The jets were directed persistently in the same northward and anti-sunward direction, implying that the X-line was always below the spacecraft. This feature is inconsistent with patchy and random reconnection or convecting multiple X-lines. The majority of MP/BL crossings in this two-hour interval were partial crossings, implying that they are caused by bulges sliding along the MP, not by inward-outward motion of a uniformly thin MP/BL. The presence of the bulges suggests that, although reconnection is continuously active under steady IMF conditions, its rate may be modulated. The present investigation also reveals that (1) the predicted ion D-shaped distributions are absent in all reconnection jets on this day, (2) the electric field fluctuations are larger in the reconnecting MP than in the magnetosheath proper, but their amplitudes never exceed 20 mV/m, (3) the ion-electron differential motion is ∼20 km/s for the Correspondence to: T. D. Phan (phan@ssl.berkeley.edu) observed MP current density of ∼50 nA/m 2 (deduced from ∇×B), thus inconsequential for the deHoffmann-Teller and Walén analyses, (4) flows in an isolated flux transfer event (FTE) are directed in the same direction as the MP jets and satisfy the Walén relation, suggesting that this FTE is also generated by reconnection. Finally, the present event cannot be used to evaluate the validity of component or anti-parallel merging models because, although the magnetic shear at the local MP was ∼100 • ( 180 • ), the X-line may be located more than 9 R E away (in the opposite hemisphere), where the shear could be substantially different.

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The location and rate of dayside reconnection during an interval of southward interplanetary magnetic field

Cited by 41 publications

References 66 publications

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

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

A decade of the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN): scientific achievements, new techniques and future directions

Cluster observations of continuous reconnection at the magnetopause under steady interplanetary magnetic field conditions

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