Cluster Electron Cusp Dispersions and IMAGE Proton Auroras as Evidence for Continuous Merging at the Magnetosphere

Details Cluster Electron Cusp Dispersions and IMAGE Proton Auroras as Evidence for Continuous Merging at the Magnetosphere Cluster Electron Cusp Dispersions and IMAGE Proton Auroras as Evidence for Continuous Merging at the Magnetosphere

Dec 2003

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003agufmsm12a1192w&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2003, abstract #SM12A-1192

Physics

Plasma Physics

7800 Space Plasma Physics, 7835 Magnetic Reconnection

Scientific paper

Whether magnetic reconnection at the earth is intrinsically non-steady is still a controversial question. Some authors have made a case for a pulsed merging process, with 1 minute of active reconnection followed by 8 minutes without merging. To pursue this issue, we examine Cluster cusp crossings for evidence of ongoing electron dispersion. Because electrons disperse very rapidly before becoming trapped with dispersing ions, their dispersion indicates contact with a field line that is still actively reconnecting. The detection of electron dispersions on multiple satellite cusp crossings, during periods of steady IMF and ideal inter-spacecraft spacing (less than 8 minutes and greater than 1 minute), would support a more continuous merging process. A statistical estimate of the number of Cluster cusp crossings with electron dispersions may serve as a proxy, in the absence of ideal inter-spacecraft spacing and extended periods of steady IMF. Moreover, SI-12 proton aurora data supplement Cluster electron and ion data in tracking the presence of an active merging sight.

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