Electron density estimation in the magnetotail: a multi-instruments approach

Details Electron density estimation in the magnetotail: a multi-instruments approach Electron density estimation in the magnetotail: a multi-instruments approach

Dec 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007agufmsm12b..03m&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2007, abstract #SM12B-03

Computer Science

Sound

2744 Magnetotail, 2794 Instruments And Techniques

Scientific paper

{ } An accurate in-situ estimation of the electron density in the Earth's magnetotail is needed to understand key geophysical phenomena at different scales: from the microphysics of magnetic reconnection to large-scale phenomena studied using three dimensional (3D) mapping of the electron density. { } Several instruments are usually carried onboard a magnetospheric spacecraft to estimate this key physical parameter. In the case of the ESA/NASA Cluster mission, composed of 4 satellites, four different instruments on each platform can be used to estimate it: two particle instruments (electrons and ions), a DC electric field instrument, a relaxation sounder (an active wave instrument) and a high-time resolution passive wave receiver. Each of these instruments has its own limitations depending on the plasma conditions. { } The Earth's magnetotail is indeed far from being a uniform medium but instead composed of regions with distinct electron density (Ne) and temperature (Te) ranges, including: the lobe regions (Ne < 0.01 cm-3, Te ~ 100 eV) and the plasmasheet (0.1 - 1.0 cm-3, Te ~ 1 keV). { } Particle instruments can be blind to low energy ions coming from the ionosphere or measuring only a portion of the energy range of the particles. This results in an under estimation of the total density. Photoelectrons are also perturbing the density measurements and careful analysis of the spacecraft potential is necessary. Measurements from a relaxation sounder also require careful calibration and on Cluster can not be used to estimate densities below 0.2 cm-3 (lower frequency of the instrument soundings). { } Case studies will be presented comparing simultaneous electron density estimation from particle instruments, DC electric field instrument and the relaxation sounder. This latter instrument has been rarely used in the past to derive the total electron density in the distant tail. The outcome of an extensive analysis of the relaxation sounder measurements in the magnetotail by Cluster will be presented. The results will show under which plasma conditions and how the total electron density can be extracted from these measurements, which offer to the particle instruments an independent and complementary estimation of the density.

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