Transition From Cold, Dense to Hot, Tenuous Plasma Sheet in the Near-Earth Magnetotail

Details Transition From Cold, Dense to Hot, Tenuous Plasma Sheet in the Near-Earth Magnetotail Transition From Cold, Dense to Hot, Tenuous Plasma Sheet in the Near-Earth Magnetotail

Dec 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007agufmsm23a1194l&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2007, abstract #SM23A-1194

Physics

2744 Magnetotail, 2748 Magnetotail Boundary Layers, 2764 Plasma Sheet, 7846 Plasma Energization

Scientific paper

It has been reported that sometimes the plasma sheet in the magnetotail consists of cold, dense ions, especially during northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) periods. However, the mechanism explaining the formation of the cold, dense plasma sheet is not yet understood. In this study we will present multi-spacecraft observations showing transition of plasma sheet from cold, dense to hot, tenuous status in the near-Earth magnetotail. The transition tends to occur very rapidly, in less than 1 min. Before the transition, the ion density is typically ~1 cm-3, and the temperature ~1 keV. After the transition, the ion density drops to ~0.3 cm-3, while the temperature increases to ~2.5 keV. The transition boundary can be quite far from the flank magnetopause and low latitude boundary layer (LLBL). For example, transition can be observed in the vicinity of the central plasma sheet (|Bx| < 10 nT) at ~(-17.8, -7.06, 1.71 RE GSM). One interesting feature is that the transition is usually accompanied by sudden increase of the Bz component. The electron measurements also show same transitional features as the ions. These observations suggest that the near- Earth plasma sheet may consist of separate regions with different plasmas and magnetic field configurations.

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