Spatial and Temporal Structures in the Vicinity of the Earth's Tail Magnetic Separatrix Cluster Observations

Abstract

The processes of non-adiabatic particle acceleration occurring in the vicinity of magnetic neutral lines produce highly accelerated (up to 2,500 km/s) field-aligned ion beams. Ion beams are usually observed in the Plasma Sheet Boundary Layer (PSBL) i.e. in the vicinity of magnetic separatrix between open and closed magnetic field lines. These acceleration processes have different spatial and temporal scales depending on the topology of the magnetic field and local plasma conditions in the Current Sheet (CS) and their peculiarities produce distinct manifestations in various characteristics of accelerated PSBL ion structures. Multipoint Cluster observations have led to a new understanding of these phenomena since they give an opportunity to separate spatial and temporal effects in registration of accelerated plasma structures.