Kinetic Characterization of Plasma Sheet Dynamics

Abstract

The Wind spacecraft made 26 perigee passes through the near-earth plasma sheet region during 1994 to 1997. Nearly all of these passes obtained plasma data from substorms and bursty bulk flow (BBF) events. New features of ion distributions have been observed in both the plasma sheet boundary layer (PSBL) and the central plasma sheet (CPS) in the vicinity of the current sheet that are relevant for understanding the structure of the PSBL and the mechanisms of particle acceleration to MeV energies associated with the BBF events. Kinetic processes are key to understanding these new observations that are not adequately explained by existing magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) models and theories. This article will feature the phase space distribution functions as the primary data product. The main purpose of this article is to establish an observational framework for new improved models and theories. The new observations should challenge modelers and theorists.