Search Publications
Electron temperature anisotropy constraints in the solar wind
Maksimovic, Milan; Marsch, Eckart; Scime, Earl E. +3 more
We have performed a statistical study of a substantial amount of electron data acquired in the solar wind to understand the constraints on electron temperature anisotropy by plasma instabilities and Coulomb collisions. We use a large data set of electron measurements from three different spacecraft (Helios I, Cluster II, and Ulysses) collected in …
Electron density estimations derived from spacecraft potential measurements on Cluster in tenuous plasma regions
Sauvaud, J. -A.; Dandouras, I.; André, M. +13 more
Spacecraft potential measurements by the EFW electric field experiment on the Cluster satellites can be used to obtain plasma density estimates in regions barely accessible to other type of plasma experiments. Direct calibrations of the plasma density as a function of the measured potential difference between the spacecraft and the probes can be c…
Properties of magnetosheath mirror modes observed by Cluster and their response to changes in plasma parameters
Dandouras, Iannis; Lucek, Elizabeth; Soucek, Jan
Mirror modes are large amplitude nonpropagating compressive structures frequently observed in the magnetosheath. They appear in the form of quasi-sinusoidal oscillations in the magnetic field, profound magnetic decreases (dips) or magnetic enhancements (peaks), accompanied by a corresponding anticorrelated signature in plasma density. In this stud…
Cluster observations of energetic electrons and electromagnetic fields within a reconnecting thin current sheet in the Earth's magnetotail
Eastwood, J. P.; Daly, P. W.; André, M. +12 more
We study the acceleration of energetic electrons during magnetotail reconnection by using Cluster simultaneous measurements of three-dimensional electron distribution functions, electric and magnetic fields, and waves in a thin current sheet. We present observations of two consecutive current sheet crossings where the flux of electrons 35-127 keV …
Evidence of an extended electron current sheet and its neighboring magnetic island during magnetotail reconnection
Khotyaintsev, Y.; Vaivads, A.; Runov, A. +9 more
We have identified a spatially extended electron current sheet (ECS) and its adjacent magnetic island during a magnetotail reconnection event with no appreciable guide field. This finding is based on data from the four Cluster spacecraft and is enabled by detailed maps of electron distribution functions and DC electric fields within the diffusion …
Evolution of Kelvin-Helmholtz activity on the dusk flank magnetopause
Farrugia, C. J.; Fazakerley, A. N.; Owen, C. J. +3 more
Our purpose is to characterize the evolution of the magnetopause Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) wave activity with changes in thickness of the adjacent boundary layer, geomagnetic latitude and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) orientation. As the IMF turns northward, wave activity may be generated at the dayside before propagating down the tail, where th…
Electron flat-top distributions around the magnetic reconnection region
RèMe, H.; Fazakerley, A. N.; Owen, C. J. +9 more
Cluster multisatellite observations provide snapshots of electron distributions around the magnetic neutral line. An isotropic flat-top-type electron distribution in phase space is frequently observed around the X line, together with large ion velocities and a Hall quadrupole-like magnetic field inside the hot and tenuous plasma sheet in the magne…
Cluster observations of an ion-scale current sheet in the magnetotail under the presence of a guide field
RèMe, H.; Fazakerley, A. N.; Klecker, B. +9 more
We report on Cluster observations of a thin current sheet interval under the presence of a strong ∣BY∣ during a fast earthward flow interval between 1655 UT and 1703 UT on 17 August 2003. The strong ∣BY∣ in the tail could be associated with a strong IMF ∣BY∣, but the large fluctuations in BY, not seen in…
Cluster observations of the Earth's quasi-parallel bow shock
Dandouras, I.; RèMe, H.; Horbury, T. S. +1 more
Cluster observations of the Earth's quasi-parallel shock are used to investigate properties of the transition and the role of magnetic pulsations in the shock process. We use crossings at small spacecraft separations to show that pulsations grow in only a few seconds. We then use an example when the spacecraft were only a few thousand kilometers a…
Characteristics of middle- to low-latitude Pi2 excited by bursty bulk flows
Zong, Qiugang; Lucek, E.; Zhang, Tielong +13 more
This paper, by using the data of Cluster, TC-1, GOES, and eight ground stations on 22 October 2004, studied the characteristics of low-latitude Pi2s generated by an earthward bursty bulk flow (BBF) in the near-Earth tail plasma sheet. The BBF excited simultaneously two distinct classes of Pi2s: one is long-period Pi2 (90-130 s) and the other is sh…