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Cluster observations of EMIC triggered emissions in association with Pc1 waves near Earth's plasmapause
Pickett, J. S.; Dandouras, I.; Santolík, O. +8 more
The Cluster spacecraft were favorably positioned on the nightside near the equatorial plasmapause of Earth at L ∼ 4.3 on 30 March 2002 to observe electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) rising tone emissions in association with Pc1 waves at 1.5 Hz. The EMIC rising tone emissions were found to be left-hand, circularly polarized, dispersive, and propag…
Energetic neutral atoms from the Earth's subsolar magnetopause
Wurz, P.; Reisenfeld, D. B.; McComas, D. J. +10 more
The shocked solar wind in the Earth's magnetosheath becomes nearly stationary at the subsolar magnetopause. At this location, solar wind protons are neutralized by charge exchange with neutral hydrogen atoms at the extreme limits of the Earth's tenuous exosphere. The resulting Energetic Neutral Atoms (ENAs) propagate away from the subsolar region …
Link between EMIC waves in a plasmaspheric plume and a detached sub-auroral proton arc with observations of Cluster and IMAGE satellites
Lucek, E.; Frey, H. U.; Décréau, P. M. E. +7 more
In this paper, we report observations from a Cluster satellite showing that ULF wave occurred in the outer boundary of a plasmaspheric plume on September 4, 2005. The band of observed ULF waves is between the He+ ion gyrofrequency and O+ ion gyrofrequency at the equatorial plane, implying that those ULF waves can be identifie…
Magnitude of the Hall fields during magnetic reconnection
Egedal, J.; Daughton, W.; Drake, J. F. +3 more
In situ observation of the Earth's magnetosphere has identified Hall magnetic fields as a key signature of collisionless magnetic reconnection. The inflow portion of the reconnection diffusion region is further characterized by strong electron pressure anisotropy. These two features are tightly linked in a quantitative model, which is verified usi…
Cause of super-thermal electron heating during magnetotail reconnection
Eastwood, J. P.; Lin, R. P.; Øieroset, M. +5 more
We present a candidate mechanism for the energization of super-thermal electrons during magnetic reconnection in the Earth's magnetotail. By analyzing in-situ measurements of electron distribution functions we characterize the relative energy gain of the electrons as a function of energy, Δ${\cal{E}(${\cal{E}). For all the events considered the hi…
Magnetic reconnection and cold plasma at the magnetopause
Laitinen, T.; Nilsson, H.; André, M. +5 more
We report on detailed observations by the four Cluster spacecraft of magnetic reconnection and a Flux Transfer Event (FTE) at the magnetopause. We detect cold (eV) plasma at the magnetopause with two independent methods. We show that the cold ions can be essential for the electric field normal to the current sheet in the separatrix region at the e…
Earthward electric field in the magnetotail: Cluster observations and theoretical estimates
Petrukovich, A. A.; Zelenyi, L. M.; Artemyev, A. V.
In this paper we present an experimental evidence of the existence of the earthward electric field in the thin current sheet of the Earth magnetotail. This field plays an essential role in the redistribution of observed intensities of cross-tail proton and electron currents. We consider the statistics of 59 thin current sheet crossings observed by…
SAID: A turbulent plasmaspheric boundary layer
Santolik, O.; Mishin, E. V.; Puhl-Quinn, P. A.
This paper presents novel features of subauroral ion drifts (SAID) observed from a unique conjunction of the Cluster, DMSP, and Polar satellites, including the discovery of SAID-related plasma waves. These observations confirm and expand on our proposed concept of the SAID channel being a turbulent boundary layer, formed via a short circuit of the…
Escape of O+ through the distant tail plasma sheet
Sauvaud, J. -A.; Wurz, P.; Bochsler, P. +13 more
In February 2007, the STEREO-B spacecraft encountered the magnetosheath, plasma sheet and plasma sheet boundary layer from about 200 RE to 300 RE downtail. This time period was during solar minimum, and there was no storm activity during this month. Using data from the PLASTIC instrument, we find that even during quiet times,…
Oxygen energization by localized perpendicular electric fields at the cusp boundary
Waara, M.; Nilsson, H.; André, M. +3 more
We report Cluster observations of oxygen energization by several keV at the boundary between the high latitude cusp and lobe. A localized electric field at the cusp/lobe boundary is responsible for a significant part of the observed energization. Such electric fields can be related to the separatrix region of reconnection at the magnetopause. Ions…