Structure and Dynamics of Substorm Injection Fronts

Physics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

[2723] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetic Reconnection, [2740] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetospheric Configuration And Dynamics, [2752] Magnetospheric Physics / Mhd Waves And Instabilities, [2788] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetic Storms And Substorms

Scientific paper

The Polar spacecraft spent a season in Fall 2001 sweeping through the magnetotail with it's 9 Re apogee very near the neutral sheet. During this season, it encountered many substorm injection events between geosynchronous orbit and 9 Re; most of them seen as encounters with the plasma sheet boundary layers. Of these, a small number were observed in the inner central plasma sheet in the evening sector. The lowest energy ion plasma (0.3 eV - 400 eV) in these events exhibited a wave-like character, with alternating cycles of radially inward and outward flow having a period of several minutes and a flow amplitude of approximately 50 km/sec, resulting in displacement amplitudes of order 1.5 Re. After a few cycles, these periodic flow cycles culminated in an inward "gust" associated with a classical hot plasma (keV) injection, similar to those observed at synchronous orbit. The outward flow cycles consisted of cold plasma (~1 eV temperature) similar to that in the outer plasmasphere, while the inward flow cycles consisted of counter-streaming plasma flows along the magnetic field, similar to polar or lobal wind plasmas. We interpret the wave-like behavior as associated with the azimuthal edges of a plasma injection bubble consisting of low content, dipolarizing flux tubes, and having an injection front as its central feature. The upcoming MMS mission will present opportunities for higher resolution studies of such events, which may offer significant insights into injection front structure and dynamics.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Structure and Dynamics of Substorm Injection Fronts does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Structure and Dynamics of Substorm Injection Fronts, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Structure and Dynamics of Substorm Injection Fronts will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1889693

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.