Search Publications
An EMHD soliton model for small-scale magnetic holes in magnetospheric plasmas
Pu, Zu-Yin; Xiao, Chi-Jie; Fu, Sui-Yan +6 more
Small-scale magnetic holes (SSMHs) in the magnetosphere plasma sheet are investigated in this paper. A developed electron magnetohydrodynamics (EMHD) soliton model is proposed as a new approach to SSMHs formation. The Biermann battery effect is taken into account in resolving the magnetic evolution equation with a slow-mode solution in the weak no…
Electron heating in the exhaust of magnetic reconnection with negligible guide field
Guo, Ruilong; Chen, Li-Jen; Kistler, Lynn M. +3 more
Electron heating in the magnetic reconnection exhaust is investigated with particle-in-cell simulations, space observations, and theoretical analysis. Spatial variations of the electron temperature (Te) and associated velocity distribution functions (VDFs) are examined and understood in terms of particle energization and randomization p…
Slow electrostatic solitary waves in Earth's plasma sheet boundary layer
Fazakerley, Andrew; Omura, Yoshiharu; Anekallu, Chandrasekhar +3 more
We modeled Cluster spacecraft observations of slow electrostatic solitary waves (SESWs) in the Earth's northern plasma sheet boundary layer (PSBL) region on the basis of nonlinear fluid theory and fluid simulation. Various plasma parameters observed by the Cluster satellite at the time of the SESWs were examined to investigate the generation proce…
Formation of downstream high-speed jets by a rippled nonstationary quasi-parallel shock: 2-D hybrid simulations
Lu, Q.; Lembege, B.; Hao, Y. +1 more
Experimental observations from space missions (including more recently Cluster and Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms data) have clearly revealed the existence of high-speed jets (HSJs) in the downstream region of the quasi-parallel terrestrial bow shock. Presently, two-dimensional hybrid simulations are performed …
Origin of low proton-to-electron temperature ratio in the Earth's plasma sheet
Zelenyi, L. M.; Sauvaud, J. -A.; Lavraud, B. +4 more
We study the proton-to-electron temperature ratio (Tp/Te) in the plasma sheet (PS) of the Earth's magnetotail using 5 years of Cluster observations (2001-2005). The PS intervals are searched within a region defined with -19 < X ≤ -7 RE and |Y| < 15 RE (GSM) under the condition |BX| ≤ 10 …
On the propagation of a geoeffective coronal mass ejection during 15-17 March 2015
Webb, D. F.; Wang, Yuming; Shen, Fang +11 more
The largest geomagnetic storm so far, called 2015 St. Patrick's Day event, in the solar cycle 24 was produced by a fast coronal mass ejection (CME) originating on 15 March 2015. It was an initially west-oriented CME and expected to only cause a weak geomagnetic disturbance. Why did this CME finally cause such a large geomagnetic storm? We try to f…
Four-fluid MHD simulations of the plasma and neutral gas environment of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko near perihelion
Hansen, Kenneth C.; Gombosi, Tamas I.; Combi, Michael R. +9 more
The neutral and plasma environment is critical in understanding the interaction of the solar wind and comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (CG), the target of the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission. To serve this need and support the Rosetta mission, we have developed a 3-D four-fluid model, which is based on BATS-R-US (Block-Adaptive Tree Solarwi…
Properties of current sheet thinning at x ∼- 10 to -12 RE
Artemyev, A. V.; Runov, A.; Angelopoulos, V. +1 more
We report on Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) observations of current sheet thinning in Earth's magnetotail at around x =- 10 to -12 Earth radii. The THEMIS spacecraft configuration in October-December 2015 allows us to construct both gradients that contribute to the cross-tail current density jy=µ…
A statistical study of plasmaspheric plumes and ionospheric outflows observed at the dayside magnetopause
Zhang, H.; Zong, Q. -G.; Rème, H. +3 more
We present a statistical study of plasmaspheric plumes and ionospheric outflows observed by the Cluster spacecraft near the dayside magnetopause. Plasmaspheric plumes are identified when the low-energy ions (<1 keV) with ∼90° pitch angle distributions are observed by the Cluster Ion Spectrometer/Hot Ion Analyzer instrument. The ionospheric outf…
Observation of an MHD Alfvén vortex in the slow solar wind
Alexandrova, O.; Li, B.; Li, X. +1 more
In the solar wind, magnetic field power spectra usually show several power laws. In this paper, magnetic field data from the Cluster mission during an undisturbed interval of slow solar wind are analyzed at 0.28 Hz, near the spectral break point between the ion inertial and dissipation/dispersion ranges. Assuming Taylor's frozen-in condition, it c…