Search Publications

Spatial distribution of plasma density and magnetic field amplitude in the dayside magnetosheath as a function of the IMF orientation

Lavraud, B.; Génot, V.; Jeandet, A. +5 more

The properties of the magnetosheath are of pivotal importance in determining the coupling between the magnetosphere and interplanetary medium. In particular, the magnetic flux pileup and plasma depletion layer (PDL) modify the boundary conditions of magnetopause reconnection. However, the spatial distribution of the magnetic field strength and pla…

Importance of the dusk-dawn interplanetary magnetic field component (IMF By) to magnetospheric convection in Earth's magnetotail plasma sheet

Chong, Ghai Siung; Pitkänen, Timo; Kullen, Anita

The solar wind and its embedded magnetic field, the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) together with magnetic reconnection power the large-scale plasma and magnetic flux circulation in the Earth's magnetosphere-ionosphere system. This circulation is termed as convection and its strength is controlled by the north-south IMF component (IMF Bz). In …

The solar wind heavy ion composition in the ascending phases of the solar cycles 23 and 25

Livi, S.; Galvin, A. B.; Kistler, L. M. +5 more

The approximately 11-year solar cycle has been shown to impact the heavy ion composition of the solar wind, even when accounting for streams of differing speeds; however, the heavy ion composition observed between the same specific phases of a past solar cycle and the current cycle has rarely, if ever, been compared. Here, we compare the heavy ion…

The global mapping of electron precipitation and ionospheric conductance from whistler-mode chorus waves

Gillespie, Dillon; Connor, Hyunju Kim; Ma, Qianli +4 more

Auroral precipitation is the second major energy source after solar irradiation that ionizes the Earth's upper atmosphere. Diffuse electron aurora caused by wave-particle interaction in the inner magnetosphere (L < 8) takes over 60% of total auroral energy flux, strongly contributing to the ionospheric conductance and thus to the ionosphere-the…

Editorial: Circulation of heavy ions and their role in regulating the near-earth plasma dynamics

Chen, Lunjin; Kronberg, Elena; Bashir, M. Fraz

Curlometer and gradient techniques: past and future applications

Escoubet, C. P.; Dunlop, M. W.; Shen, C. +5 more

We review the range of applications and use of multi spacecraft techniques, applicable to close formation arrays of spacecraft, focusing on spatial gradient based methods, and the curlometer in particular. The curlometer was originally applied to Cluster multi-spacecraft magnetic field data, but later was updated for different environments and mea…

High-accuracy polarization measurements of the white-light corona during the 2023 total solar eclipse

Hanaoka, Yoichiro; Sakai, Yoshiaki; Masuda, Yukio

This study measured the polarization of the white-light corona during the total solar eclipse on 20 April 2023, which occurred under high solar activity. The same instrument that was used for the 2017 and 2019 eclipse observations was employed, and despite the short duration of totality, the obtained data could be used for high-accuracy polarizati…

Evidence of Kelvin-Helmholtz and tearing mode instabilities at the magnetopause during space weather events

Jerse, Giovanna; Marcucci, Maria Federica; Laurenza, Monica +9 more

Introduction: Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) and tearing mode (TM) instabilities are one of the most important mechanisms of solar wind energy, momentum and plasma transport within the magnetosphere.Methods: To investigate the conditions under which KHTM instabilities occur in the Earth environment it is fundamental to combine simultaneous multipoint in si…

Statistical geoeffectiveness of solar-interplanetary disturbance events of type II radio bursts and CMEs/shocks

Yan, Jingye; Yu, Quanyingqi

Understanding and predicting the geoeffectiveness of solar activity on Earth is crucial for space weather. Therefore, predicting the impact of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and their associated interplanetary (IP) shocks on Earth is essential. Observations of CMEs near the Sun can be used for these prediction and to study their propagation and evo…

Complex dayside particle precipitation observed during the passage of a solar wind rotational discontinuity

Escoubet, C. Philippe; Wing, Simon; Berchem, Jean +1 more

The dayside particle precipitation during the passage of a solar wind rotational discontinuity (RD) event on 10 April 2015 is examined and reviewed. The RD leads to complex structures at the magnetopause, boundary layer, mantle, and cusp even though the geomagnetic activity level remains low. Particle precipitation data from DMSP F17 reveal the fo…