Effects of the High-Latitude Cusp on Magnetosheath Ion Distributions

Details Effects of the High-Latitude Cusp on Magnetosheath Ion Distributions Effects of the High-Latitude Cusp on Magnetosheath Ion Distributions

May 2001

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001agusm..sm42d03o&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2001, abstract #SM42D-03

Physics

2724 Magnetopause, Cusp, And Boundary Layers, 2728 Magnetosheath

Scientific paper

Observations of the high-latitude dayside magnetopause by the POLAR spacecraft have resolved the electron and ion signatures associated with magnetic reconnection. These observations clearly indicate the magnetic topology in the vicinity of the magnetopause, distinguishing those regions where the magnetosheath field is and is not interconnected with Earth's field at the resolution of the thermal electron gyroradius. An interesting region has been identified in the magnetosheath where the ion distributions are modified strongly from convecting Maxwellian distributions. The ions show a strong "D-shape" distribution, which previously has been interpreted as a signature of current sheet acceleration and time-of-flight effects on recently reconnected field lines. In addition, the bulk flow speed in this region is considerably lower than predicted by gas-dynamic models of the magnetosheath. The interesting aspect of these observations is that the distinctive ion distributions are present in the magnetosheath on magnetic field lines that have not yet undergone reconnection. These distributions are observed at high latitudes near noon, and are perhaps related to the magnetosheath flows that are established in the vicinity of the cusp. There is also the possibility that they are due to finite ion larmor radii signatures of reconnected flux tubes that are nearby, separated from the observer by distances intermediate between the electron and ion larmor radii.

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