Publications (10)0 Total impact
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Article: Global reconnection topology as inferred from plasma observations inside Kelvin-Helmholtz vortices
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ABSTRACT: During a long lasting period of northward interplanetary magnetic field and high solar wind speed (above 700 km/s), the Cluster spacecraft go across a number of very large rolled-up Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) vortices at the dusk magnetopause, close to the terminator. The peculiarity of the present event is a particular sequence of ions and electrons distribution functions observed repeatedly inside each vortex. In particular, whenever Cluster crosses the current layer inside the vortices, multiple field-aligned ion populations appear, suggesting the occurrence of reconnection. In addition, the ion data display a clear velocity filter effect both at the leading and at the trailing edge of each vortex. This effect is not present in the simultaneous electron data. Unlike other KH studies reported in the literature in which reconnection occurs within the vortices, in the present event the observations are not compatible with local reconnection, but are accounted for by lobe reconnection occurring along an extended X-line at the terminator in the Southern Hemisphere. The reconnected field lines "sink" across the magnetopause and then convect tailward-duskward where they become embedded in the vortices. Another observational evidence is the detected presence of solar wind plasma on the magnetospheric side of the vortices, which confirms unambiguously the occurrence of mass transport across the magnetopause already reported in the literature. The proposed reconnection scenario accounts for all the observational aspects, regarding both the transport process and the kinetic signatures.Annales Geophysicae. 01/2010; -
Article: Cluster-C1 observations on the geometrical structure of linear magnetic holes in the solar wind at 1 AU
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ABSTRACT: Interplanetary linear magnetic holes (LMHs) are structures in which the magnetic field magnitude decreases with little change in the field direction. They are a 10–30% subset of all interplanetary magnetic holes (MHs). Using magnetic field and plasma measurements obtained by Cluster-C1, we surveyed the LMHs in the solar wind at 1 AU. In total 567 interplanetary LMHs are identified from the magnetic field data when Cluster-C1 was in the solar wind from 2001 to 2004. We studied the relationship between the durations and the magnetic field orientations, as well as that of the scales and the field orientations of LMHs in the solar wind. It is found that the geometrical structure of the LMHs in the solar wind at 1 AU is consistent with rotational ellipsoid and the ratio of scales along and across the magnetic field is about 1.93:1. In other words, the structure is elongated along the magnetic field at 1 AU. The occurrence rate of LMHs in the solar wind at 1 AU is about 3.7 per day. It is shown that not only the occurrence rate but also the geometrical shape of interplanetary LMHs has no significant change from 0.72 AU to 1 AU in comparison with previous studies. It is thus inferred that most of interplanetary LMHs observed at 1 AU are formed and fully developed before 0.72 AU. The present results help us to study the formation mechanism of the LMHs in the solar wind.Annales Geophysicae. 01/2010; -
Article: Electrostatic solitary waves in current layers: from Cluster observations during a super-substorm to beam experiments at the LAPD
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ABSTRACT: Electrostatic Solitary Waves (ESWs) have been observed by several spacecraft in the current layers of Earth's magnetosphere since 1982. ESWs are manifested as isolated pulses (one wave period) in the high time resolution waveform data obtained on these spacecraft. They are thus nonlinear structures generated out of nonlinear instabilities and processes. We report the first observations of ESWs associated with the onset of a super-substorm that occurred on 24 August 2005 while the Cluster spacecraft were located in the magnetotail at around 18–19 RE and moving northward from the plasma sheet to the lobes. These ESWs were detected in the waveform data of the WBD plasma wave receiver on three of the Cluster spacecraft. The majority of the ESWs were detected about 5 min after the super-substorm onset during which time 1) the PEACE electron instrument detected significant field-aligned electron fluxes from a few 100 eV to 3.5 keV, 2) the EDI instrument detected bursts of field-aligned electron currents, 3) the FGM instrument detected substantial magnetic fluctuations and the presence of Alfvén waves, 4) the STAFF experiment detected broadband electric and magnetic waves, ion cyclotron waves and whistler mode waves, and 5) CIS detected nearly comparable densities of H+ and O+ ions and a large tailward H+ velocity. We compare the characteristics of the ESWs observed during this event to those created in the laboratory at the University of California-Los Angeles Plasma Device (LAPD) with an electron beam. We find that the time durations of both space and LAPD ESWs are only slightly larger than the respective local electron plasma periods, indicating that electron, and not ion, dynamics are responsible for generation of the ESWs. We have discussed possible mechanisms for generating the ESWs in space, including the beam and kinetic Buneman type instabilities and the acoustic instabilities. Future studies will examine these mechanisms in more detail using the space measurements as inputs to models, and better relate the ESW space measurements to the laboratory through PIC code models.Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics. 01/2009; -
Article: Periodic traveling compression regions during quiet geomagnetic conditions and their association with ground Pi2
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ABSTRACT: Recently, Keiling et al. (2006) showed that periodic (~90 s) traveling compression regions (TCRs) during a substorm had properties of Pi2 pulsations, prompting them to call this type of periodic TCRs "lobe Pi2". It was further shown that time-delayed ground Pi2 had the same period as the lobe Pi2 located at 16 RE, and it was concluded that both were remotely driven by periodic, pulsed reconnection in the magnetotail. In the study reported here, we give further evidence for this association by reporting additional periodic TCR events (lobe Pi2s) at 18 RE all of which occurred in succession during a geomagnetically very quiet, non-substorm period. Each quiet-time periodic TCR event occurred during an interval of small H-bay-like ground disturbance (H bays were superposed by Pi2s. These ground Pi2s are compared to the TCRs in the tail lobe (Cluster) and both magnetic pulsations and flow variations at 9 RE inside the plasma sheet (Geotail). The main results of this study are: (1) Further evidence is given that periodic TCRs in the tail lobe at distances of 18 RE and ground Pi2 are related phenomena. In particular, it is shown that both had the same periodicity and occurred simultaneously (allowing for propagation time delays) strongly suggesting that both had the same periodic source. Since the TCRs were propagating Earthward, this source was located in the outer magnetosphere beyond 18 RE. (2) The connection of periodic TCRs and ground Pi2 also exists during very quiet geomagnetic conditions with PBIs present in addition to the previous result (Keiling et al., 2006) which showed this connection during substorms. (3) Combining (1) and (2), we conclude that the frequency of PBI-associated Pi2 is controlled in the outer magnetosphere as opposed to the inner magnetosphere. We propose that this mechanism is pulsed reconnection based on previous results which combined modeled results and observations of substorm-related periodic TCRs and ground Pi2. (4) We show that TCRs with small compression ratios (ΔB/B1% (which are more commonly studied). (5) Finally, it is noted that both quiet time and substorm-related periodic TCRs had remarkably similar periods in spite of the drastically different geomagnetic conditions prevailing during the events which poses the important question of what causes this periodicity under these different conditions.Annales Geophysicae. 01/2008; -
Article: Magnetic configurations of the tilted current sheets in magnetotail
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ABSTRACT: In this research, the geometrical structures of tilted current sheet and tail flapping waves have been analysed based on multiple spacecraft measurements and some features of the tilted current sheets have been made clear for the first time. The geometrical features of the tilted current sheet revealed in this investigation are as follows: (1) The magnetic field lines (MFLs) in the tilted current sheet are generally plane curves and the osculating planes in which the MFLs lie are about vertical to the equatorial plane, while the normal of the tilted current sheet leans severely to the dawn or dusk side. (2) The tilted current sheet may become very thin, the half thickness of its neutral sheet is generally much less than the minimum radius of the curvature of the MFLs. (3) In the neutral sheet, the field-aligned current density becomes very large and has a maximum value at the center of the current sheet. (4) In some cases, the current density is a bifurcated one, and the two humps of the current density often superpose two peaks in the gradient of magnetic strength, indicating that the magnetic gradient drift current is possibly responsible for the formation of the two humps of the current density in some tilted current sheets. Tilted current sheets often appear along with tail current sheet flapping waves. It is found that, in the tail flapping current sheets, the minimum curvature radius of the MFLs in the current sheet is rather large with values around 1 RE, while the neutral sheet may be very thin, with its half thickness being several tenths of RE. During the flapping waves, the current sheet is tilted substantially, and the maximum tilt angle is generally larger than 45°. The phase velocities of these flapping waves are several tens km/s, while their periods and wavelengths are several tens of minutes, and several earth radii, respectively. These tail flapping events generally last several hours and occur during quiet periods or periods of weak magnetospheric activity.Annales Geophysicae. 01/2008; -
Article: Transients in oxygen outflow above the polar cap as observed by the Cluster spacecraft
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ABSTRACT: Oxygen ion outflow associated with the cusp and cleft give rise to persistent oxygen ion beams which can be observed over the polar cap. For high altitude spacecraft such as Cluster these beams are often observed for several hours on each occasion. This allows for a study of typical temporal structures on the time scale of minutes. We have used 3 years of data from spring, January to May of years 2001 to 2003, for a study of the oxygen number flux variation in the polar cap ion outflow. The source of these oxygen ion beams is the cusp and cleft, and variations in ionospheric upflow on time scales of around 8 min have been reported from ground based studies using incoherent scatter radar. Such upflows typically do not reach escape velocity, and further energization above the ionosphere is required for outflow to occur. Our study shows that a typical time scale between sudden number flux enhancements observed by Cluster in a geocentric distance range of 5 RE to 12 RE is 5 to 10 min. A superposed epoch study does not reveal any significant convection velocity or temperature changes around the flux enhancement events. Sudden temperature enhancements occur with a typical time interval of about 4 min, A superposed epoch study does not reveal any number flux enhancements associated with the temperature enhancements. The clear modulation of the high altitude number flux in a manner which resembles the modulation of the ionospheric upflow indicates that this is the main limiting factor determining the total outflow. The process behind transient upflow events in the ionosphere is therefore important for the total ionospheric outflow. Subsequent heating above the ionosphere appears to be common enough in the cusp/cleft region that it does not significantly modulate the oxygen ion number flux.Annales Geophysicae. 01/2008; -
Article: An assessment of the role of the centrifugal acceleration mechanism in high altitude polar cap oxygen ion outflow
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ABSTRACT: The role of the centrifugal acceleration mechanism for ion outflow at high altitude above the polar cap has been investigated. Magnetometer data from the four Cluster spacecraft has been used to obtain an estimate of magnetic field gradients. This is combined with ion moment data of the convection drift and the field-aligned particle velocity. Thus all spatial terms in the expression for the centrifugal acceleration are directly obtained from observations. The temporal variation of the unit vector of the magnetic field is estimated by predicting consecutive measurement-points through the use of observed estimates of the magnetic field gradients, and subtracting this from the consecutively observed value. The calculation has been performed for observations of outflowing O+ beams in January to May for the years 2001–2003, and covers an altitude range of about 5 to 12 RE. The accumulated centrifugal acceleration during each orbit is compared with the observed parallel velocities to get an estimate of the relative role of the centrifugal acceleration. Finally the observed spatial terms (parallel and perpendicular) of the centrifugal acceleration are compared with the results obtained when the magnetic field data was taken from the Tsyganenko T89 model instead. It is found that the centrifugal acceleration mechanism is significant, and may explain a large fraction of the parallel velocities observed at high altitude above the polar cap. The magnetic field model results underestimate the centrifugal acceleration at the highest altitudes investigated and show some systematic differences as compared to the observations in the lower altitude ranges investigated. Our results indicate that for altitudes corresponding to magnetic field values of more than 50 nT a test particle model with a steady state magnetic field model, a realistic convection model and an initial velocity of about 20 k m s−1 at 5 RE should be able to reproduce the main part of our observational results.Annales Geophysicae. 01/2008; -
Article: On the edge of the foreshock: model-data comparisons
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ABSTRACT: We present the results of a global hybrid code simulation for the solar wind-interaction with the Earth's magnetosphere during an interval of steady radial IMF. The model predicts a foreshock marked by innumerable localized, correlated, and large amplitude, density and magnetic field strength variations, depressed velocities, and enhanced temperatures. The foreshock is bounded by a broad (~0.8 RE) region of enhanced densities, temperatures, and magnetic field strengths that extends far (~8.6 RE) upstream from the bow shock. Flow perturbations within the boundary are directed perpendicular to the boundary, towards the unperturbed solar wind and away from the foreshock. Cluster observations of the ion foreshock and pristine solar wind confirm the predictions of the model. The observations suggest that foreshock cavities, crater-like density and magnetic field strength structures whose cores are filled with suprathermal particles, can be interpreted in terms of transient encounters with the foreshock boundary.Annales Geophysicae. 01/2008; -
Article: The Double Star magnetic field investigation: instrument design, performance and highlights of the first year's observations
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ABSTRACT: One of the primary objectives of the Double Star mission is the accurate measurement of the magnetic field vector along the orbits of the two spacecraft. The magnetic field is an essential parameter for the understanding of space plasma processes and is also required for the effective interpretation of data from the other instruments on the spacecraft. We present the design of the magnetic field instrument onboard both of the Double Star spacecraft and an overview of the performance as measured first on-ground and then in-orbit. We also report the results of in-flight calibration of the magnetometers, and the processing methods employed to produce the final data products which are provided to Double Star investigators, and the wider community in general. Particular attention is paid to the techniques developed for removing magnetic interference generated by the solar arrays on the first (equatorial orbiting) spacecraft. Results from the first year of operations are reviewed in the context of combined observations by Double Star and Cluster, and examples given from the different regions visited by the spacecraft to date.Annales Geophysicae. 01/2005; -
Article: On the generation of solitary waves observed by Cluster in the near-Earth magnetosheath
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ABSTRACT: Through case studies involving Cluster waveform observations, solitary waves in the form of bipolar and tripolar pulses have recently been found to be quite abundant in the near-Earth dayside magnetosheath. We expand on the results of those previous studies by examining the distribution of solitary waves from the bow shock to the magnetopause using Cluster waveform data. Cluster's orbit allows for the measurement of solitary waves in the magnetosheath from about 10 R<sub>E</sub> to 19.5 R<sub>E</sub> . Our results clearly show that within the magnetosheath, solitary waves are likely to be observed at any distance from the bow shock and that this distance has no dependence on the time durations and amplitudes of the solitary waves. In addition we have found that these same two quantities show no dependence on either the ion velocity or the angle between the ion velocity and the local magnetic field direction. These results point to the conclusion that the solitary waves are probably created locally in the magnetosheath at multiple locations, and that the generation mechanism is most likely not solely related to ion dynamics, if at all. To gain insight into a possible local generation mechanism, we have examined the electron differential energy flux characteristics parallel and perpendicular to the magnetic field, as well as the local electron plasma and cyclotron frequencies and the type of bow shock that Cluster is behind, for several time intervals where solitary waves were observed in the magnetosheath. We have found that solitary waves are most likely to be observed when there are counterstreaming (~parallel and anti-parallel to the magnetic field) electrons at or below about 100eV. However, there are times when these counterstreaming electrons are present when solitary waves are not. During these times the background magnetic field strength is usually very low (<10nT), implying that the amplitudes of the solitary waves, if present, would be near or below those of other waves and electrostatic fluctuations in this region making it impossible to isolate or clearly distinguish them from these other emissions in the waveform data. Based on these results, we have concluded that some of the near-Earth magnetosheath solitary waves, perhaps in the form of electron phase-space holes, may be generated locally by a two-stream instability involving electrons based on the counterstreaming electrons that are often observed when solitary waves are present. We have not ruled out the possibility that the solitary waves could be generated as a result of the lower-hybrid Buneman instability in the presence of an electron beam, through the electron acoustic mode or through processes involving turbulence, which is almost always present in the magnetosheath, but these will be examined in a more comprehensive study in the future.Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics. 01/2005;
Top co-authors
Institutions
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2005–2009
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Imperial College London
London, ENG, United Kingdom
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