Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufmsm24a..02l&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #SM24A-02
Other
2704 Auroral Phenomena (2407), 2748 Magnetotail Boundary Layers, 2760 Plasma Convection (2463), 2764 Plasma Sheet, 2790 Substorms
Scientific paper
What is commonly referred to as the "plasma sheet boundary layer," or the PSBL, is a high-latitude region of recurring bursts of central plasma sheet-like ions (and electrons) with complex filamentary structure and more or less distinct energy dispersion. As confirmed by the multipoint Cluster observations, these ion bursts, mostly protons, have a transverse fine structure that may span but a few gyroradii of a 10-keV proton at 4 to 7 Earth radii (RE) distance. As proven by Polar (and other) ion spectral measurements, the proton energy dispersions, when distinct, are temporal in nature. The rate of energy dispersion varies a great deal (minutes to tens of minutes), indicating a burst source that is more than 100 RE down the tail at times, but may be inside of 20 RE at other times. The latter is where most observations of earthward directed "bursty bulk flows" of protons, or BBFs, have been made near the equatorial plane. Provided that similar BBFs occur over a large length of the magnetotail, these flow structures are most likely the source of the PSBL flow bursts. That there is a physical connection between the two kinds of proton flows is suggested by (1) the similarly bursty and structured nature of both, including gyroradii-sized gradients, (2) the earthward bulk flow of the BBFs, and (3) the fact that the BBFs are invariably associated with a transient local increase of the northward tail Bz component and a local decrease of the plasma density. Point 2 explains the lack of latitudinal energy dispersion of the PSBL protons, and Point 3 allows the equatorial plasma to expand earthward along higher-latitude field lines. These points are illustrated here by Cluster magnetic field and ion data from as far as 19 RE near local midnight in the equatorial plane.
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