Physics – Plasma Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011agufmsm31a2088m&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2011, abstract #SM31A-2088
Physics
Plasma Physics
[2724] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetopause And Boundary Layers, [2736] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetosphere/Ionosphere Interactions, [7835] Space Plasma Physics / Magnetic Reconnection
Scientific paper
In-situ observations have shown that the mass density on the magnetospheric side of the magnetopause boundary can be dominated by heavy ions (mainly O+), particularly on the dusk side. However, the effect of these heavy ions on reconnection at the magnetopause is largely unknown. We use the comprehensive Cluster data set to study encounters with reconnection regions at the magnetospause. This is a micro-scale study that involves the detailed analysis of individual events using ion, electron, magnetic field and electric field data at the highest time resolution. First, the overall reconnection structure and the location of the Cluster satellites within that structure is established. Next, the degree to which O+ ions participate in the reconnection process is determined by studying the individual distribution functions and by comparing the O+ kinetic properties with those of the H+. Data from encounters with different levels of O+ will be contrasted. By comparing events under different conditions, we will determine the impact of O+. Understanding the influence of ionospheric O+ on the dynamics of magnetopause reconnection is critical, because this process controls the rate of transport of mass, momentum and energy between the solar wind and the magnetosphere.
Cully C. M.
Dunlop Malcolm W.
Fazakerley Andrew N.
Genestreti K. J.
Kistler Lynn M.
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