Spatial Scales and Plasma Properties of the Distant Magnetopause: Evidence for Selective Ion and Electron Transport

Abstract

AbstractOne of the most important sources of magnetospheric plasma is particle entry through the distant magnetotail boundary, the nightside magnetopause. This entry mechanism depends on the magnetopause configuration. Off the equator, the strong lobe magnetic field renders the magnetopause a tangential or a rotational discontinuity, and thus the magnetosheath field orientation predominantly controls particle entry through magnetic reconnection. At the equatorial, distant tail magnetopause, however, the magnetic field's control of particle entry is diminished because the plasma beta there is large on both sides of the boundary. Thus, transport there can be significantly different from that at the dayside and off‐equatorial magnetopauses. Using observations from two Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon's Interaction with the Sun probes, we investigate plasma transport mechanisms around the distant equatorial magnetopause. We find that transport occurs as a series of abrupt transitions in density, ion and electron temperatures, and ion kinetic energy of spatial scales as small as a typical plasma sheet ion gyroradius. Analysis of the particle phase space density reveals that an energy‐selection mechanism controls electron transport across the magnetopause, whereas ion transport is likely controlled by spatial diffusion driven by low‐frequency magnetic field fluctuations. We discuss the importance of these fluctuations for the magnetopause structure (e.g., the thickness of the transitions in plasma density, ion and electron temperatures, and ion kinetic energy).