Remotely imaging the plasma sheet with low-altitude satellite clusters

Abstract

Low-altitude satellites make latitudinal cuts through the entire plasma sheet within a few minutes. We show that by combining several such satellites it is possible to form an image of a large portion of the plasma sheet within a relatively short time. Strictly speaking such a technique images the field-aligned portion of the plasma sheet, however, theoretical work as well as extensive in situ observations have demonstrated that the plasma sheet is highly isotropic. In practice the most significant limitation is that electron acceleration events (including the auroral bulge) require discarding the associated ion data. An instance when five DMSP satellites (F10–F14) went through the southern hemisphere nightside oval within a 19 min period is used to construct the first partial magnetotail image. The possibilities of combining data from other missions to construct more complete composite images is considered. This technique is also highly useful in statistical studies of the plasma sheet. Because a low-altitude spacecraft cuts through the plasma sheet about 25 times as often as a mid-altitude spacecraft, and hundreds of times more often than high-altitude spacecraft, statistically meaningful surveys of the plasma sheet as a whole are hundreds of times easier using a collection of DMSP satellites. We demonstrate herein that the dawn LLBL flank is an apparent source of cold magnetosheath plasma supplied to the central plasma sheet.