Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002agufmsm12b..06b&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2002, abstract #SM12B-06
Other
2716 Energetic Particles, Precipitating, 2724 Magnetopause, Cusp, And Boundary Layers, 2736 Magnetosphere/Ionosphere Interactions, 2784 Solar Wind/Magnetosphere Interactions
Scientific paper
Remote sensing of dayside magnetospheric reconnection by ground-based radar relies on accurate identification of the open-closed magnetic field separatrix. In one technique - using incoherent scatter (IS) radar - the signature of the separatrix is the poleward edge of dayside boundary plasma sheet (BPS) electron precipitation, where the precipitation regime is inferred from the measured ionization profile versus altitude. In another technique - using high frequency (HF) radar -the signature of the separatrix is the equatorward edge of high spectral width coherent backscatter. In this study, we compare the latitude of these two signatures in simultaneous HF- and IS radar measurements on 20 January 1999, and show that the consistency between these signatures depends on the local reconnection electric field. The two signatures yield a consistent identification of the separatrix at local times where the reconnection electric field is low. In the merging gap, however, where the reconnection electric field is high, the signature in the HF radar data moves several degrees equatorward of the signature in the IS radar. Investigation of the HF radar backscatter autocorrelation functions reveals no significant difference in the two regions. Investigation of the ionization profiles calculated from the IS radar data, however, indicates that the precipitation is distinctly softer in the merging gap than elsewhere. These observations are backed up by DMSP precipitating particle observations, which indicate that the IS radar technique is properly identifying the poleward edge of the dayside BPS precipitation, but also that there is an abrupt transition in the BPS character at exactly the latitude indicated by the HF radar signature. These observations are consistent with the theory that a portion of the dayside BPS is on open magnetic field lines. The latitudinal width of the dayside BPS on open field lines is given by Δ\Lambda = 0.14Erec.
Baker Kile B.
Blanchard Gerard T.
Ellington C. L.
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