Dawn-dusk Direction Research Articles

Properties and Acceleration Mechanisms of Electrons Up To 200keV Associated With a Flux Rope Pair and Reconnection X-Lines Around It in Earth's Plasma Sheet.

The properties and acceleration mechanisms of electrons (<200keV) associated with a pair of tailward traveling flux ropes and accompanied reconnection X-lines in Earth's plasma sheet are investigated with MMS measurements. Energetic electrons are enhanced on both boundaries and core of the flux ropes. The power-law spectra of energetic electrons near the X-lines and in flux ropes are harder than those on flux rope boundaries. Theoretical calculations show that the highest energy of adiabatic electrons is a few keV around the X-lines, tens of keV immediately downstream of the X-lines, hundreds of keV on the flux rope boundaries, and a few MeV in the flux rope cores. The X-lines cause strong energy dissipation, which may generate the energetic electron beams around them. The enhanced electron parallel temperature can be caused by the curvature-driven Fermi acceleration and the parallel electric potential. Betatron acceleration due to the magnetic field compression is strong on flux rope boundaries, which enhances energetic electrons in the perpendicular direction. Electrons can be trapped between the flux rope pair due to mirror force and parallel electric potential. Electrostatic structures in the flux rope cores correspond to potential drops up to half of the electron temperature. The energetic electrons and the electron distribution functions in the flux rope cores are suggested to be transported from other dawn-dusk directions, which is a 3-dimensional effect. The acceleration and deceleration of the Betatron and Fermi processes appear alternately indicating that the magnetic field and plasma are turbulent around the flux ropes.

The Acceleration of Outer-Belt Electrons by Localized Electric Fields

To explain the populations of the outer-belt energetic electrons, including relativistic electrons, that sporadically appear in the magnetosphere, a mechanism was proposed long ago for the acceleration of those electrons by short-term bursts of the electric field, which appear on the night side during substorm disturbances (Kropotkin, 1996). This mechanism can be substantially specified if the modern concepts of bursty bulk flows in the geomagnetic tail, the occurrence of dipolarization fronts, and the excitation of localized field-aligned-resonant poloidal Alfvén oscillations involving a strong component of the electric field in the dawn-dusk direction are taken into account.

Hybrid-Vlasov modeling of three-dimensional dayside magnetopause reconnection

Dayside magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause, which is a major driver of space weather, is studied for the first time in a three-dimensional (3D) realistic setup using a hybrid-Vlasov kinetic model. A noon–midnight meridional plane simulation is extended in the dawn–dusk direction to cover 7 Earth radii. The southward interplanetary magnetic field causes magnetic reconnection to occur at the subsolar magnetopause. Perturbations arising from kinetic instabilities in the magnetosheath appear to modulate the reconnection. Its characteristics are consistent with multiple, bursty, and patchy magnetopause reconnection. It is shown that the kinetic behavior of the plasma, as simulated by the model, has consequences on the applicability of methods such as the four-field junction to identify and analyze magnetic reconnection in 3D kinetic simulations.

Observation of Transition Boundary between Cold, Dense and Hot, Tenuous Plasmas in the Near-Earth Magnetotail

Properties of plasmas that constitute the plasma sheet in the near-Earth magnetotail vary according to the solar wind conditions and location in the tail. In this case study, we present multi-spacecraft observations by Cluster that show a transition of plasma sheet from cold, dense to hot, tenuous state. The transition was associated with the passage of a spatial boundary that separates the plasma sheet into two regions with cold, dense and hot, tenuous plasmas. Ion phase space distributions show that the cold, dense ions have a Kappa distribution while the hot, tenuous ions have a Maxwellian distribution, implying that they have different origins or are produced by different thermalization processes. The transition boundary separated the plasma sheet in the dawn-dusk direction, and slowly moved toward the dawn flank. The hot, tenuous plasmas filled the central region while the cold, dense plasmas filled the outer region. The hot, tenuous plasmas were moving toward the Earth, pushing the cold, dense plasmas toward the flank. Different types of dynamical processes can be generated in each region, which can affect the development of geomagnetic activities.

The increase in the curvature radius of geomagnetic field lines preceding a classical dipolarization

Abstract. Based on assumptions that substorm field line dipolarization at geosynchronous altitudes is associated with the arrival of high-velocity magnetotail flow bursts referred to as bursty bulk flows, the following sequence of field line dipolarization is proposed: (1) slow magnetoacoustic wave excited through ballooning instability by enhanced inflows in pre-onset intervals towards the equatorial plane; (2) in the equatorial plane, slow magnetoacoustic wave stretching of the flux tube in dawn–dusk directions resulting in spreading plasmas in dawn–dusk directions and reduction in the radial pressure gradient in the flux tube. As a consequence of these processes, the flux tube assumes a new equilibrium geometry in which the curvature radius of new field lines increased in the meridian plane, suggesting an onset of field line dipolarization. The dipolarization processes associated with changing the curvature radius preceded classical dipolarization caused by a reduction of cross-tail currents and pileup of the magnetic fields. Increasing the curvature radius induced a convection surge in the equatorial plane as well as inductive westward electric fields of the order of millivolts per meter (mV m−1). Electric fields transmitted to the ionosphere produce an electromotive force in the E layer for generating a field-aligned current system of Bostrom type. This is also equivalent to the creation of an incomplete Cowling channel in the ionospheric E layer by the convection surge.

Small-scale dipolarization fronts in the Earth′s magnetotail

Previous studies suggest that dipolarization fronts (DFs) are 1 to 3RE (RE is the earth radius) wide in the dawn-dusk direction. Recent kinetic simulations have found that DFs may break up into small-scale structures after they are produced by reconnection. Motivated by this simulation, we revisited the scale size of DFs in the dawn-dusk direction by using Cluster observations during the years when the inter-distance among Cluster spacecraft was between 1000 and 2000 km. We selected the DFs that were detected by more than one spacecraft and estimated the radii of these DFs by a simple geometrical analysis, which is based on comparison of DF normals observed by different spacecraft. We found a few DFs that were only a few ion inertial lengths in the dawn-dusk direction. These results point out the importance of multi-scale coupling during the evolution of DFs.

Occurrence rate of dipolarization fronts in the plasma sheet: Cluster observations

Abstract. We investigate the occurrence rate of dipolarization fronts (DFs) in the plasma sheet by taking full advantage of all four Cluster satellites (C1–4) from years 2001 to 2009. In total, we select 466 joint-observation DF events, in which 318, 282, 254, and 236 DFs are observed by C1, C2, C3, and C4, respectively. Our findings are as follows: (1) the maximum occurrence rate is ∼ 15.3 events per day at X ∼ 15 RE in the XY plane, and the average occurrence rate is ∼ 5.4 events per day over the whole observation period; (2) the occurrence rate on the dusk side of the plasma sheet is larger and decreases with increasing BXY∕BLobe; (3) the occurrence rate within |Y| &lt; 6 RE increases gradually from X ≈ −19 to −15 RE and then decreases from X ≈ −15 to −10 RE; (4) the occurrence rate when AE &gt; 200 nT is much larger than that when AE &lt; 200 nT, indicating that DFs preferentially occur during high geomagnetic activity. The magnetic pileup and earthward and duskward ion flows could contribute to the increases in the occurrence rate from X ≈ −19 to −15 RE. We suggest that both geomagnetic activity and multiple DFs contribute to the high occurrence rate of the DFs. In addition, the finite length of the DF in the dawn–dusk direction can affect the chance that a satellite observes the DF.

Dipolarization fronts as earthward propagating flux ropes: A three‐dimensional global hybrid simulation

AbstractDipolarization fronts (DFs) as earthward propagating flux ropes (FRs) in the Earth's magnetotail are presented and investigated with a three‐dimensional (3‐D) global hybrid simulation for the first time. In the simulation, several small‐scale earthward propagating FRs are found to be formed by multiple X line reconnection in the near tail. During their earthward propagation, the magnetic field Bz of the FRs becomes highly asymmetric due to the imbalance of the reconnection rates between the multiple X lines. At the later stage, when the FRs approach the near‐Earth dipole‐like region, the antireconnection between the southward/negative Bz of the FRs and the northward geomagnetic field leads to the erosion of the southward magnetic flux of the FRs, which further aggravates the Bz asymmetry. Eventually, the FRs merge into the near‐Earth region through the antireconnection. These earthward propagating FRs can fully reproduce the observational features of the DFs, e.g., a sharp enhancement of Bz preceded by a smaller amplitude Bz dip, an earthward flow enhancement, the presence of the electric field components in the normal and dawn‐dusk directions, and ion energization. Our results show that the earthward propagating FRs can be used to explain the DFs observed in the magnetotail. The thickness of the DFs is on the order of several ion inertial lengths, and the electric field normal to the front is found to be dominated by the Hall physics. During the earthward propagation from the near‐tail to the near‐Earth region, the speed of the FR/DFs increases from ~150 km/s to ~1000 km/s. The FR/DFs can be tilted in the GSM (x, y) plane with respect to the y (dawn‐dusk) axis and only extend several Earth radii in this direction. Moreover, the structure and evolution of the FRs/DFs are nonuniform in the dawn‐dusk direction, which indicates that the DFs are essentially 3‐D.

Evolution of flux ropes in the magnetotail: A three-dimensional global hybrid simulation

Flux ropes in the Earth's magnetotail are widely believed to play a crucial role in energy transport during substorms and the generation of energetic particles. Previous kinetic simulations are limited to the local-scale regime, and thus cannot be used to study the structure associated with the geomagnetic field and the global-scale evolution of the flux ropes. Here, the evolution of flux ropes in the magnetotail under a steady southward interplanetary magnetic field are studied with a newly developed three-dimensional global hybrid simulation model for dynamics ranging from the ion Larmor radius to the global convection time scales. Magnetic reconnection with multiple X-lines is found to take place in the near-tail current sheet at geocentric solar magnetospheric distances x=−30RE∼−15RE around the equatorial plane ( z=0). The magnetotail reconnection layer is turbulent, with a nonuniform structure and unsteady evolution, and exhibits properties of typical collisionless fast reconnection with the Hall effect. A number of small-scale flux ropes are generated through the multiple X-line reconnection. The diameter of the flux ropes is several RE, and the spatial scale of the flux ropes in the dawn-dusk direction is on the order of several RE and does not extend across the entire section of the magnetotail, contrary to previous models and MHD simulation results and showing the importance of the three-dimensional effects. The nonuniform and unsteady multiple X-line reconnection with particle kinetic effects leads to various kinds of flux rope evolution: The small-scale flux ropes propagate earthward or tailward after formation, and eventually merge into the near-Earth region or the mid-/distant-tail plasmoid, respectively. During the propagation, some of the flux ropes can be tilted in the geocentric solar magnetospheric (x,y) plane with respect to the y (dawn-dusk) axis. Coalescence between flux ropes is also observed. At the same time, the evolution of the flux ropes in the multiple X-line reconnection layer can also lead to the acceleration and heating of ions.

Quasi-periodic injections of relativistic electrons in Saturn’s outer magnetosphere

Quasi-periodic, short-period injections of relativistic electrons have been observed in both Jupiter’s and Saturn’s magnetospheres, but understanding their origin or significance has been challenging, primarily due to the limited number of in-situ observations of such events by past flyby missions. Here we present the first survey of such injections in an outer planetary magnetosphere using almost nine years of energetic charged particle and magnetic field measurements at Saturn. We focus on events with a characteristic period of about 60–70min (QP60, where QP stands for quasi-periodic). We find that the majority of QP60, which are very common in the outer magnetosphere, map outside Titan’s orbit. QP60 are also observed over a very wide range of local times and latitudes. A local time asymmetry in their distribution is the most striking feature, with QP60 at dusk being between 5 and 25 times more frequent than at dawn. Field-line tracing and pitch angle distributions suggest that most events at dusk reside on closed field lines. They are distributed either near the magnetopause, or, in the case of the post-dusk (or pre-midnight) sector, up to about 30RS inside it, along an area extending parallel to the dawn–dusk direction. QP60 at dawn map either on open field lines and/or near the magnetopause. Both the asymmetries and varying mapping characteristics as a function of local time indicate that generation of QP60 cannot be assigned to a single process. The locations of QP60 seem to trace sites that reconnection is expected to take place. In that respect, the subset of events observed post-dusk and deep inside the magnetopause may be directly or indirectly linked to the Vasyliunas reconnection cycle, while magnetopause reconnection/Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) instability could be invoked to explain all other events at the duskside. Using similar arguments, injections at the dawnside magnetosphere may result from solar-wind induced storms and/or magnetopause reconnection/KH-instability. Still, we cannot exclude that the apparent collocation of QP60 with expected reconnection sites is coincidental. given also the large uncertainties in field line tracing with the available magnetic field models. The intensity of the QP60 spectrum is strong enough such that if transport processes allow, these injections can be a very important source of energetic electrons for the inner saturnian magnetosphere or the heliosphere. We also observe that electrons in a QP60 can be accelerated at least up to 6MeV and that the distribution of QP60 appears to trace well the aurora’s local time structure, an observation that may have implications about high-latitude electron acceleration and the connection of these events to auroral dynamics. Despite these new findings, it is still unclear what determines the rather well-defined 60 to 70-min period of the electron bursts and how electrons can rapidly reach several MeV.

Dawn-dusk scale of dipolarization front in the Earth’s magnetotail: multi-cases study

We analyze three dipolarization front (DF) events to investigate their dawn-dusk scales in the Earth’s magnetotail using the Cluster measurements in year 2007, when the spacecraft separation is about 1.8 Re (Re is the Earth’s radius) and is appropriate for investigating the DF scale. Based on the Minimum Variance Analysis (MVA) and the general shape of the DF, we found that Cluster detected the center and the flank (or just beyond the flank) of DF in the same event. This means that the scale of DF is about 3.6 Re in the dawn-dusk direction, larger than that reported in previous studies. Using the semicircle function to fit the observations, we got the dawn-dusk scale of ∼3.2–3.6 Re, consistent with the rough estimation. Considering large separation among the spacecraft, the timing analysis cannot be used to obtain the normal of DF and the propagation velocity along the normal. One should be careful when performing timing analysis of DF using the Cluster data, and have to carry on MVA analysis to check the normal of DF before do timing analysis.

Study of plasma flow reversal in the near-Earth plasma sheet using numerical computations

Tailward flow in the near-Earth plasma sheet associated with a rebound of the earthward bursty bulk flow (BBF) is investigated using three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics simulations of magnetic reconnection in the magnetotail on the basis of the spontaneous fast reconnection model. In order to investigate the properties of this tailward flow, virtual satellites are located at different positions in the plasma sheet within the simulation region, so that we can directly observe the temporal variations of plasma quantities in accordance with the growth and preceding the flow reversal associated with the magnetic reconnection. The time profile of the plasma flow velocity in the course of the BBF depends on the satellite position. Furthermore, the time profile of the magnetic field strength in the course of the reverse flow depends on the satellite position in the dawn-dusk direction. As a result of the rebound of the earthward flow, the accumulation of the plasma density and the plasma pressure is observed at any position in the plasma sheet during the interval between the BBF and the reverse flow.

Cross-tail current evolution during substorm dipolarization

Abstract. We examine evolution of the cross-tail current during substorm current disruption/dipolarization using observations from two satellites in the near-Earth magnetotail at the downtail distances of 8–9 RE. By choosing times when these two satellites are separated, mainly in the north–south distance in the tail current sheet, precise determination of current density in the layer embedded between these satellites can be obtained with Ampère's law. Two such events are examined and several common features are found. The current densities in the layer embedded by the two satellites were reduced by ~ 40–70% during substorm dipolarization. The changes in current densities have the fast kinetic timescale, i.e., in seconds, implying a kinetic process for current disruption/dipolarization. The estimated power within the current layer was mainly dissipative in the dawn–dusk direction and mainly dynamo in the Sun–tail direction that is needed to drive the north–south substorm current system in the ionosphere. Remote sensing of the energization site with the ion sounding technique shows that the energization site was initially earthward of the satellite and moved down the tail at later times. Breakdown of the frozen-in condition occurred intermittently during the disturbance interval. These features provide important clues to the substorm onset process.

Ion resonance acceleration by dipolarization fronts: analytic theory and spacecraft observation

Abstract. In this paper, we consider the mechanism of ion acceleration by dipolarization fronts in the Earth's magnetotail. The statistics of dipolarization front observations by Interball-tail have been collected from 1995 to 1998 (51 events). We demonstrate that near dipolarization fronts bursts of energetic ions are often observed with an average energy of about 100–200 keV. We develop the analytical model of the ion resonance interaction with dipolarization fronts to describe the observed acceleration. We compare the model and the observations to estimate the width of fronts along the dawn-dusk direction, Ry. The mean value is ⟨ Ry ⟩ ~6 RE.

Nightside polar rain aurora boundary gap and its applications for magnetotail reconnection

[1] Polar rain electrons with energy around 1 keV occasionally fill the polar cap ionosphere. Their energy flux is high enough to produce detectable auroral emissions, called polar rain aurora (PRA). We report a PRA event on 2 August 2002 and the estimation of the magnetotail reconnection location and size from the PRA boundary. The distinguishing feature of this event identified from the TIMED/GUVI data is an emission depletion gap between PRA and auroral oval. The size of the gap is about 2° in latitude and extended from the dusk sector (17:00 MLT) to the premidnight sector (22:00 MLT). This gap coincides with the electron flux gap in the DMSP electron energy flux data. The electron flux data show the existence of energy dispersion at the gap. These GUVI and DMSP observations support the idea that the gap is very likely due to a magnetic reconnection in the magnetotail that blocks the solar wind electron entry into the polar ionosphere. Based on the electron energy dispersion, the nightside X line is estimated to be at X = −50 to −60 RE, which is consistent with results from other studies. The gap extends from the nightside to the duskside and presumably to the dawnside. This new information suggests that the extension of the tail X line over the entire plasma sheet in the dawn-dusk direction under a strongly southward IMF (Bz ∼ −10 nT) and the curved nature of the X line.

Observations of dawn–dusk aligned polar cap aurora during the substorms of January 21, 2005

A new type of polar cap aurora, dawn–dusk aligned polar cap aurora (DDAPCA), was detected during the exceptionally intense January 21, 2005 substorm (AEmax=3504nT). The DDAPCA was located at very high latitude (>85°MLAT) in the polar cap region. As the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) GSM By component rotated from a positive to a negative value, the DDAPCA tilt angle relative to the dawn–dusk direction rotated anticlockwise and reached ∼45°. It is speculated that the DDAPCA arises from the formation of an X-line in the distant (>80RE) tail due to polar cap magnetic field reconnection under unusually high solar wind compression conditions.

A consistent understanding of the ribbon structure for the Io plasma torus at the Voyager 1, 1991 ground-based, and Galileo J0 epochs

[1] A new four-dimensional (three spatial and local time) empirical model for the Io plasma torus is presented that includes several System III longitude asymmetries and a dawn-dusk electric field with variable direction and magnitude. The model is used to analyze and compare observations for the peak density structure of the plasma torus acquired at the 1979 Voyager 1, the 1991 ground-based, and the 1995 Galileo J0 epochs. The mean magnitude of the dawn-dusk electric field is determined to be much smaller at the 1991 ground-based epoch than at the Voyager 1 and Galileo J0 epochs. A consistent understanding of the radial structure for the density peaks in the plasma torus may then be achieved for these epochs if the dawn-dusk electric field departs by ∼20° from the true dawn-dusk direction and if account is taken of absolute density changes. The ratio of the electron density in the inner and outer plasma torus varies significantly for the three epochs and indicates different temporal evolutions in the balance of the plasma torus production and loss processes. The undisturbed electron density at Io's position in the plasma torus is calculated and has significantly different values at the three epochs; it is shown for each epoch to undergo large variations as Io changes its location in heliocentric phase angle and System III longitude. These large variations provide a wide variety of changing upstream plasma conditions for Io's atmospheric formation, local aurora and distant footprint emissions, and electrodynamic interaction.

Self-consistent seeding of the interchange instability in dipolarization fronts

We report a 3D magnetohydrodynamics simulation that studies the formation of dipolarization fronts during magnetotail reconnection. The crucial new feature uncovered in the present 3D simulation is that the process of reconnection produces flux ropes developing within the reconnection region. These flux ropes are unstable to the kink mode and introduce a spontaneous structure in the dawn-dusk direction. The dipolarization fronts forming downstream of reconnection are strongly affected by the kinking ropes. At the fronts, a density gradient is present with opposite direction to that of the acceleration field and leads to an interchange instability. We present evidence for a causal link where the perturbations of the kinking flux ropes with their natural and well defined scales drive and select the scales for the interchange mode in the dipolarization fronts. The results of the simulation are validated against measured structures observed by the Themis mission.

Multi-point observations of earthward fast flow in the plasma sheet by virtual satellites located in the MHD simulation domain

Time profiles of some physical values in earthward fast flows in the plasma sheet are observed at three dimensionally different positions by employing virtual satellites located in the three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulation domain, and these simulations are done on the basis of the spontaneous fast reconnection model. In the spontaneous fast reconnection evolution, the width of the flow channel is narrow in the dawn-dusk direction, and it does not spread until the plasma collides with the magnetic loop. The enhancements in B z and V x are larger at the center of the fast flow channel than those at its dawn and dusk edges, reflecting the differences in the reconnection rate in the diffusion region. The enhancement in V x is shorter near the plasma sheet boundary layer than that near the neutral sheet, reflecting the changes in the thickness of the flow channel.

The magnetic structure of an earthward-moving flux rope observed by Cluster in the near-tail

Abstract. We investigate the magnetic structure of a small earthward-moving flux rope observed by Cluster in the near-Earth plasma sheet through application of the Grad-Shafranov (GS) technique to reconstruct the transverse magnetic field distribution perpendicular to the flux rope axis at X=−14.75 RE. We find that the principal axis of the flux rope lies approximately along the dawn-dusk direction and that the diameter of the flux rope is about 1.5 RE. There is a strong duskward core magnetic field in the center of the flux rope. According to the AE index, there is no obvious substorm associated with the magnetic flux rope. Recent studies indicate that the formation of the flux rope in the plasma sheet can be understood in terms of simultaneous reconnection at multiple X-line points in the near-tail. The distribution of the transverse magnetic field on the cross section is the asymmetric circles, which requires that the reconnections at multiple X-line points occur. So our results also provide additional evidence for the occurrence of multiple-X line reconnection in the magnetotail.