Transient, small‐scale field‐aligned currents in the plasma sheet boundary layer during storm time substorms
Abstract We report on field‐aligned current observations by the four Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft near the plasma sheet boundary layer (PSBL) during two major substorms on 23 June 2015. Small‐scale field‐aligned currents were found embedded in fluctuating PSBL flux tubes near the separ...
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Wiley
2016-05-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL068768 |
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| author | R. Nakamura V. A. Sergeev W. Baumjohann F. Plaschke W. Magnes D. Fischer A. Varsani D. Schmid T. K. M. Nakamura C. T. Russell R. J. Strangeway H. K. Leinweber G. Le K. R. Bromund C. J. Pollock B. L. Giles J. C. Dorelli D. J. Gershman W. Paterson L. A. Avanov S. A. Fuselier K. Genestreti J. L. Burch R. B. Torbert M. Chutter M. R. Argall B. J. Anderson P.‐A. Lindqvist G. T. Marklund Y. V. Khotyaintsev B. H. Mauk I. J. Cohen D. N. Baker A. N. Jaynes R. E. Ergun H. J. Singer J. A Slavin E. L. Kepko T. E. Moore B. Lavraud V. Coffey Y. Saito |
| author_facet | R. Nakamura V. A. Sergeev W. Baumjohann F. Plaschke W. Magnes D. Fischer A. Varsani D. Schmid T. K. M. Nakamura C. T. Russell R. J. Strangeway H. K. Leinweber G. Le K. R. Bromund C. J. Pollock B. L. Giles J. C. Dorelli D. J. Gershman W. Paterson L. A. Avanov S. A. Fuselier K. Genestreti J. L. Burch R. B. Torbert M. Chutter M. R. Argall B. J. Anderson P.‐A. Lindqvist G. T. Marklund Y. V. Khotyaintsev B. H. Mauk I. J. Cohen D. N. Baker A. N. Jaynes R. E. Ergun H. J. Singer J. A Slavin E. L. Kepko T. E. Moore B. Lavraud V. Coffey Y. Saito |
| author_sort | R. Nakamura |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract We report on field‐aligned current observations by the four Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft near the plasma sheet boundary layer (PSBL) during two major substorms on 23 June 2015. Small‐scale field‐aligned currents were found embedded in fluctuating PSBL flux tubes near the separatrix region. We resolve, for the first time, short‐lived earthward (downward) intense field‐aligned current sheets with thicknesses of a few tens of kilometers, which are well below the ion scale, on flux tubes moving equatorward/earthward during outward plasma sheet expansion. They coincide with upward field‐aligned electron beams with energies of a few hundred eV. These electrons are most likely due to acceleration associated with a reconnection jet or high‐energy ion beam‐produced disturbances. The observations highlight coupling of multiscale processes in PSBL as a consequence of magnetotail reconnection. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e25442e9ca4d4c4eb82ce86b67187f54 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2016-05-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-e25442e9ca4d4c4eb82ce86b67187f542025-08-20T03:49:37ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072016-05-0143104841484910.1002/2016GL068768Transient, small‐scale field‐aligned currents in the plasma sheet boundary layer during storm time substormsR. Nakamura0V. A. Sergeev1W. Baumjohann2F. Plaschke3W. Magnes4D. Fischer5A. Varsani6D. Schmid7T. K. M. Nakamura8C. T. Russell9R. J. Strangeway10H. K. Leinweber11G. Le12K. R. Bromund13C. J. Pollock14B. L. Giles15J. C. Dorelli16D. J. Gershman17W. Paterson18L. A. Avanov19S. A. Fuselier20K. Genestreti21J. L. Burch22R. B. Torbert23M. Chutter24M. R. Argall25B. J. Anderson26P.‐A. Lindqvist27G. T. Marklund28Y. V. Khotyaintsev29B. H. Mauk30I. J. Cohen31D. N. Baker32A. N. Jaynes33R. E. Ergun34H. J. Singer35J. A Slavin36E. L. Kepko37T. E. Moore38B. Lavraud39V. Coffey40Y. Saito41Space Research Institute Austrian Academy of Sciences Graz AustriaEarth Physics Department St. Petersburg State University St. Petersburg RussiaSpace Research Institute Austrian Academy of Sciences Graz AustriaSpace Research Institute Austrian Academy of Sciences Graz AustriaSpace Research Institute Austrian Academy of Sciences Graz AustriaSpace Research Institute Austrian Academy of Sciences Graz AustriaSpace Research Institute Austrian Academy of Sciences Graz AustriaSpace Research Institute Austrian Academy of Sciences Graz AustriaSpace Research Institute Austrian Academy of Sciences Graz AustriaInstitute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics and Earth and Space Sciences Department University of California Los Angeles California USAInstitute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics and Earth and Space Sciences Department University of California Los Angeles California USAInstitute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics and Earth and Space Sciences Department University of California Los Angeles California USAGoddard Space Flight Center NASA College Park Maryland USAGoddard Space Flight Center NASA College Park Maryland USAGoddard Space Flight Center NASA College Park Maryland USAGoddard Space Flight Center NASA College Park Maryland USAGoddard Space Flight Center NASA College Park Maryland USAGoddard Space Flight Center NASA College Park Maryland USAGoddard Space Flight Center NASA College Park Maryland USAGoddard Space Flight Center NASA College Park Maryland USASouthwest Research Institute San Antonio Texas USASouthwest Research Institute San Antonio Texas USASouthwest Research Institute San Antonio Texas USASouthwest Research Institute San Antonio Texas USAPhysics Department University of New Hampshire Durham New Hampshire USAPhysics Department University of New Hampshire Durham New Hampshire USAApplied Physics Laboratory The Johns Hopkins University Laurel Maryland USASpace and Plasma Physics Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm SwedenSpace and Plasma Physics Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm SwedenSwedish Institute of Space Physics Uppsala SwedenApplied Physics Laboratory The Johns Hopkins University Laurel Maryland USAApplied Physics Laboratory The Johns Hopkins University Laurel Maryland USAUniversity of Colorado Boulder Colorado USAUniversity of Colorado Boulder Colorado USAUniversity of Colorado Boulder Colorado USANOAA Space Weather Prediction Center Boulder Colorado USADepartment of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering University of Michigan Ann Arbor Michigan USAGoddard Space Flight Center NASA College Park Maryland USAGoddard Space Flight Center NASA College Park Maryland USACentre National de la Recherche Scientifique Toulouse FranceNASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville Alabama USAJAXA Institute for Space and Astronautical Science Sagamihara JapanAbstract We report on field‐aligned current observations by the four Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft near the plasma sheet boundary layer (PSBL) during two major substorms on 23 June 2015. Small‐scale field‐aligned currents were found embedded in fluctuating PSBL flux tubes near the separatrix region. We resolve, for the first time, short‐lived earthward (downward) intense field‐aligned current sheets with thicknesses of a few tens of kilometers, which are well below the ion scale, on flux tubes moving equatorward/earthward during outward plasma sheet expansion. They coincide with upward field‐aligned electron beams with energies of a few hundred eV. These electrons are most likely due to acceleration associated with a reconnection jet or high‐energy ion beam‐produced disturbances. The observations highlight coupling of multiscale processes in PSBL as a consequence of magnetotail reconnection.https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL068768field‐aligned currentselectron beamMMSPSBL |
| spellingShingle | R. Nakamura V. A. Sergeev W. Baumjohann F. Plaschke W. Magnes D. Fischer A. Varsani D. Schmid T. K. M. Nakamura C. T. Russell R. J. Strangeway H. K. Leinweber G. Le K. R. Bromund C. J. Pollock B. L. Giles J. C. Dorelli D. J. Gershman W. Paterson L. A. Avanov S. A. Fuselier K. Genestreti J. L. Burch R. B. Torbert M. Chutter M. R. Argall B. J. Anderson P.‐A. Lindqvist G. T. Marklund Y. V. Khotyaintsev B. H. Mauk I. J. Cohen D. N. Baker A. N. Jaynes R. E. Ergun H. J. Singer J. A Slavin E. L. Kepko T. E. Moore B. Lavraud V. Coffey Y. Saito Transient, small‐scale field‐aligned currents in the plasma sheet boundary layer during storm time substorms Geophysical Research Letters field‐aligned currents electron beam MMS PSBL |
| title | Transient, small‐scale field‐aligned currents in the plasma sheet boundary layer during storm time substorms |
| title_full | Transient, small‐scale field‐aligned currents in the plasma sheet boundary layer during storm time substorms |
| title_fullStr | Transient, small‐scale field‐aligned currents in the plasma sheet boundary layer during storm time substorms |
| title_full_unstemmed | Transient, small‐scale field‐aligned currents in the plasma sheet boundary layer during storm time substorms |
| title_short | Transient, small‐scale field‐aligned currents in the plasma sheet boundary layer during storm time substorms |
| title_sort | transient small scale field aligned currents in the plasma sheet boundary layer during storm time substorms |
| topic | field‐aligned currents electron beam MMS PSBL |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL068768 |
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