Search Publications
Dawn-dusk asymmetries in the coupled solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere system: a review
Wing, S.; Haaland, S.; Soucek, J. +8 more
Dawn-dusk asymmetries are ubiquitous features of the coupled solar-wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere system. During the last decades, increasing availability of satellite and ground-based measurements has made it possible to study these phenomena in more detail. Numerous publications have documented the existence of persistent asymmetries in processes…
Waves in high-speed plasmoids in the magnetosheath and at the magnetopause
Gunell, H.; Dandouras, I.; Nilsson, H. +9 more
Plasmoids, defined here as plasma entities with a higher anti-sunward velocity component than the surrounding plasma, have been observed in the magnetosheath in recent years. During the month of March 2007 the Cluster spacecraft crossed the magnetopause near the subsolar point 13 times. Plasmoids with larger velocities than the surrounding magneto…
Thin current sheets with strong bell-shape guide field: Cluster observations and models with beams
Malova, H. V.; Petrukovich, A. A.; Artemyev, A. V. +1 more
We study the kinetic structure of intense ion-scale current sheets with strong electron currents and the guide field having a bell-shape profile. We consider four crossings of the Earth magnetotail current sheet by the Cluster mission in 2003. The thickness of these current sheets is about the ion inertial length and significantly smaller than the…
The structure of strongly tilted current sheets in the Earth magnetotail
Petrukovich, A. A.; Zelenyi, L. M.; Nakamura, R. +2 more
We investigate strongly tilted (in the y-z GSM plane) current sheets (CSs) in the Earth magnetotail using data from the Cluster mission. We analyze 29 CS crossings observed in 2001-2004. The characteristic current density, magnetic field at the CS boundary and the CS thickness of strongly tilted CSs are similar to those reported previously for hor…
Cluster observations of the substructure of a flux transfer event: analysis of high-time-resolution particle data
Dandouras, I.; Fazakerley, A. N.; André, M. +5 more
Flux transfer events (FTEs) are signatures of transient reconnection at the dayside magnetopause, transporting flux from the dayside of the magnetosphere into the magnetotail lobes. They have previously been observed to contain a combination of magnetosheath and magnetospheric plasma. On 12 February 2007, the four Cluster spacecraft were widely se…
A model of the magnetosheath magnetic field during magnetic clouds
Kilpua, E. K. J.; Turc, L.; Fontaine, D. +1 more
Magnetic clouds (MCs) are huge interplanetary structures which originate from the Sun and have a paramount importance in driving magnetospheric storms. Before reaching the magnetosphere, MCs interact with the Earth's bow shock. This may alter their structure and therefore modify their expected geoeffectivity. We develop a simple 3-D model of the m…
Magnetic clouds' structure in the magnetosheath as observed by Cluster and Geotail: four case studies
Kilpua, E. K. J.; Turc, L.; Fontaine, D. +1 more
Magnetic clouds (MCs) are large-scale magnetic flux ropes ejected from the Sun into the interplanetary space. They play a central role in solar-terrestrial relations as they can efficiently drive magnetic activity in the near-Earth environment. Their impact on the Earth's magnetosphere is often attributed to the presence of southward magnetic fiel…
Formation of the high-energy ion population in the earth's magnetotail: spacecraft observations and theoretical models
Petrukovich, A. A.; Artemyev, A. V.; Lutsenko, V. N. +1 more
We investigate the formation of the high-energy (E ∈ [20,600] keV) ion population in the earth's magnetotail. We collect statistics of 4 years of Interball / Tail observations (1995-1998) in the vicinity of the neutral plane in the magnetotail region (X <-17 RE, |Y| ≤ 20 RE in geocentric solar magnetospheric…
On the origin of falling-tone chorus elements in Earth's inner magnetosphere
Krasnoselskikh, V.; Le Contel, O.; Angelopoulos, V. +6 more
Generation of extremely/very low frequency (ELF/VLF) chorus waves in Earth's inner magnetosphere has received increased attention recently because of their significance for radiation belt dynamics. Though past theoretical and numerical models have demonstrated how rising-tone chorus elements are produced, falling-tone chorus element generation has…
Radiation in the neighbourhood of a double layer
Berthomier, M.; Pickett, J.; Pottelette, R.
In the auroral kilometric radiation (AKR) source region, acceleration layers narrow in altitude and associated with parallel field-aligned potential drops of several kV can be identified by using both particles and wave-field high time-resolution measurements from the Fast Auroral SnapshoT explorer spacecraft (FAST). These so-called double layers …