Multispacecraft Studies of the Structure and Dynamics of the Magnetotail Current Sheet

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Scientific paper

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2708 Current Systems (2409), 2744 Magnetotail, 2748 Magnetotail Boundary Layers, 2764 Plasma Sheet

Scientific paper

We provide results concerning the bulk characteristics of the magnetotail current sheet from Cluster's first season in the magnetotail (summer and fall of 2001). Approximately thirteen current sheet crossings have been identified to date and these crossings show considerable variability in structure and dynamics. Some of the crossings are well-ordered and approximate the simple Harris neutral sheet quite well, while others are considerably disordered. The multi-point nature of the Cluster mission provides an opportunity to directly examine the current density structure of the neutral sheet. Surprisingly, data shows that the currents behave as described in the simple models heretofore assumed only in some long term average sense. Fluctuations of the current densities about the mean are much larger than the average values and the direction of the current appears almost random at times. The fluctuations of the currents and fields may arise from turbulence but they may be closely linked to partially deterministic eddy and flux rope structure, which would imply very different physical processes at work.

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