Search Publications
Electron acceleration by parallel and perpendicular electric fields during magnetic reconnection without guide field
Chen, L. -J.; Bessho, N.; Bhattacharjee, A. +1 more
Electron acceleration due to the electric field parallel to the background magnetic field during magnetic reconnection with no guide field is investigated by theory and two-dimensional electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulations and compared with acceleration due to the electric field perpendicular to the magnetic field. The magnitude of the para…
Intensity of nightside MARSIS AIS surface reflections and implications for low-altitude ionospheric densities
Gurnett, D. A.; Němec, F.; Morgan, D. D. +1 more
Spacecraft radar sounding signals at frequencies higher than the ionospheric peak plasma frequency are not reflected by the ionosphere. Instead, they make it to the ground where they are reflected by the planetary surface. We analyze the intensity of the surface reflections measured by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding…
Effects of Saturn's magnetospheric dynamics on Titan's ionosphere
Gurnett, D. A.; Jackman, C. M.; Kurth, W. S. +9 more
We use the Cassini Radio and Plasma Wave Science/Langmuir probe measurements of the electron density from the first 110 flybys of Titan to study how Saturn's magnetosphere influences Titan's ionosphere. The data is first corrected for biased sampling due to varying solar zenith angle and solar energy flux (solar cycle effects). We then present res…
An empirical approach to modeling ion production rates in Titan's ionosphere II: Ion production rates on the nightside
Coates, A. J.; Rymer, A.; Wellbrock, A. +9 more
Ionization of neutrals by precipitating electrons and ions is the main source of Titan's nightside ionosphere. This paper has two goals: (1) characterization of the role of electron impact ionization on the nightside ionosphere for different magnetospheric conditions and (2) presentation of empirical ion production rates determined using densities…
Testing the magnetotail configuration based on observations of low-altitude isotropic boundaries during quiet times
Toth, G.; Ilie, R.; Ganushkina, N. +2 more
We investigate the configuration of the geomagnetic field on the nightside magnetosphere during a quiet time interval based on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Polar Orbiting Environment Satellites Medium Energy Proton and Electron Detector (NOAA/POES MEPED) measurements in combination with numerical simulations of the global terres…
Superthermal electron magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling in the diffuse aurora in the presence of ECH waves
Glocer, A.; Sibeck, D. G.; Singhal, R. P. +3 more
There are two main theories for the origin of the diffuse auroral electron precipitation: first, pitch angle scattering by electrostatic electron cyclotron harmonic (ECH) waves, and second, by whistler mode waves. Precipitating electrons initially injected from the plasma sheet to the loss cone via wave-particle interaction processes degrade in th…
Bandwidths and amplitudes of chorus-like banded emissions measured by the TC-1 Double Star spacecraft
Santolík, O.; Yearby, K. H.; Cornilleau-Wehrlin, N. +1 more
Characteristics of banded whistler-mode emissions are derived from a database of chorus-like events obtained from the complete data set of the wave measurements provided by the Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Field Fluctuation-Digital Wave Processing (STAFF-DWP) wave instrument on board the TC-1 Double Star spacecraft. Our study covers the full operat…
Cusp dynamics under northward IMF using three-dimensional global particle-in-cell simulations
Lembège, B.; Cai, D.; Esmaeili, A. +1 more
The interaction of the solar wind with the terrestrial magnetosphere is analyzed with the help of three-dimensional (3-D) global, full-electromagnetic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations, in the configuration where the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) is steadily northward. The present study is mainly focused on the cusp region and associated pa…
Detection of small-scale folds at a solar wind reconnection exhaust
Eastwood, J. P.; Hietala, H.; Mistry, R.
of reconnection in the solar wind over the last few years appear to indicate that the majority of large-scale reconnecting current sheets are roughly planar, and that reconnection itself is quasi-steady. Most studies of solar wind exhausts have used spacecraft with large separations and relatively low time cadence ion measurements. Here we present…
Auroral spirals at Saturn
Roussos, E.; Bonfond, B.; Gérard, J. -C. +4 more
We report observations of auroral spirals at Saturn propagating from midnight to noon via dawn, based on Cassini/UVIS measurements. The aurora during that sequence is observed for the first time to consist of detached features swirling as they propagate from dawn to early afternoon. The features have a diameter of ∼6000 km in the ionosphere, which…