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At least 91 records · Page 5
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NASA NTRS1984

Observation of plasma deceleration at a rotational magnetopause discontinuity

This letter presents a detailed experimental analysis of the electric fields and electron flow velocities at a rotational magnetopause discontinuity. It is shown for this event that the magnetosheath plasma velocity is sharply decelerated on entry into the magnetosphere in very good agreement with a theoretical magnetohydrodynamic fit. This type of event is remarkable because the product of the electric-field vector and the Chapman-Ferraro magnetopause current is negative during the magnetopause crossing. This case represents one of two types of valid solution to the MHD boundary conditions. It differs from previously published examples of reconnective magnetopause geometries in that energy is being transferred locally from kinetic energy into electromagnetic energy at the time of these measurements.

Aggson, T. L.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Ion precipitation from the magnetopause current sheet

Measurements from the polar-orbiting S3-3 satellite show that energetic ions frequently precipitate with isotropic pitch-angle distributions at auroral latitudes on the dayside. It is proposed that this precipitation results from nonguiding center motion of radiation-belt ions that drift into the magnetopause current sheet, and that the ion precipitation and flows of energetic ions observed in the magnetosheath originate together within the magnetopause current sheet. Ions ejected from the magnetopause toward the earth flow along open field lines that are adjacent to the separatrix between open and closed field lines. Those ejected into the magnetosheath flow along field lines that are connected to the geomagnetic field and adjacent to the separatrix between the connected field lines and purely magnetosheath fields lines. These proposals are tested by comparing the S3-3 observations of precipitating ions with previously analyzed ISEE-1 observations of energetic ions, obtained near the magnetopause and in the magnetosheath. The S3-3 observations imply that the region of ion precipitation is often continuous as a function of local time. This suggests that, at least on the dayside, there is often a continuous shell of manetospheric ions within the magnetosheath flowing from the magnetosphere. These ions are likely an important source for energetic ions in the interplanetary medium.

Lyons, L. R.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Plasma flow reversals at the dayside magnetopause and the origin of asymmetric polar cap convection

Events observed in a fast plasma experiment, where the y-component of the plasma flow within the low latitude boundary layer and magnetopause current layer was oppositely directed to that in the adjacent magnetosheath, are examined. The observations are shown to be qualitatively and quantitatively consistent with previous observations of accelerated flows at the magnetopause and with models of magnetic reconnection, with reconnection occurring at low latitudes near the GSE XY plane, independently of the magnitude or the sign of the y-component ot the local magnetosheath magnetic field. Local magnetic shears at the magnetopause for these events (in 60-180 deg range) and the fact that these events occur at low latitudes do not support the antiparallel merging hypothesis. The observations of B(y)-dependent flow reversals demonstrate how the asymmetric polar cap convection and related phenomena, such as the Svalgaard-Mansurov effect, originate in magnetic reconnection at the dayside magnetopause.

Gosling, J. T.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Plasma diffusion at the magnetopause? The case of lower hybrid drift waves

The diffusion expected from the quasilinear theory of the lower hybrid drift instability at the Earth's magnetopause is recalculated. The resulting diffusion coefficient is in principle just marginally large enough to explain the thickness of the boundary layer under quiet conditions, based on observational upper limits for the wave intensities. Thus, one possible model for the boundary layer could involve equilibrium between the diffusion arising from lower hybrid waves and various low processes. However, some recent data and simulations seems to indicate that the magnetopause is not consistent with such a soft diffusive equilibrium model. Furthermore, investigation of the nonlinear equations for the lower hybrid waves for magnetopause parameters indicates that the quasilinear state may never arise because coalescence to large wavelengths, followed by collapse once a critical wavelengths is reached, occur on a time scale faster than the quasilinear diffusion. In this case, an inhomogeneous boundary layer is to be expected. More simulations are required over longer time periods to explore whether this nonlinear evolution really takes place at the magnetopause.

Treumann, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Ion reflection and transmission during reconnection at the earth's subsolar magnetopause

Composition measurements in an accelerated flow event at the earth's dayside magnetopause show evidence for reflection and transmission of magnetospheric and magnetosheath ion species. Furthermore, a single velocity transformation approximately tangent to the magnetopause surface orders the individual transmitted and reflected ion distributions on both sides of the magnetopause into field-aligned flow at V(A), the local Alfven speed. These observations provide strong evidence for a kinetic description of magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause.

Fuselier, S. A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Solar cycle variations in the size and shape of the magnetopause

The 10 years of the ISEE 1 and 2 mission covering much of solar cycle 21 and the beginning of solar cycle 22 make it possible to study the position, shape, and motion of the magnetopause throughout the course of changing solar activity. The size and shape of the magnetopause were determined for each observing season using the ISEE 1 and 2 magnetometer data IMP 8 data were used to monitor the solar wind changes with the solar cycle. During the 1979-1980 season, at solar maximum, the solar wind dynamic pressure was at its lowest values, and, at solar minimum, the solar wind pressure was at its largest values, more than double the value in the 1979-1980 season. During this solar cycle, the magnetopause was about 0.5 R(E) farther when the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) was strongly northward, than when strongly southward. Both standoff distance values are fround to be smaller than the value found by Fairfield (1971). The standoff distance of the magnetopause for northward IMF is anticorrelated with the solar wind pressure. However, the standoff distance for southward IMF seems relatively insensitive to solar wind dynamic pressure.

Petrinec, S. P.↗
NASA NTRS1991

The magnetopause

A review of theoretical and observational research on the magnetopause during 1987-1990. Starting with recent work on magnetic reconnection, the review proceeds to magnetopause surface wave phenomena, including the controversy over the role of solar wind pressure pulses in the coupling process and in the mimicking of flux transfer events signatures, and finishes with the magnetopause structure and associated wave phenomena. Recent advances in computer modeling of the magnetopause and the pertinent processes are also discussed.

Smith, M. F.↗
NASA NTRS1992

The beta dependence of the collisionless tearing instability at the dayside magnetopause

The beta dependence (where beta is the ratio between plasma pressure to magnetic pressure) of the collisionless tearing instability at the dayside magnetopause current sheet was investigated analytically for several current sheet models. The results show that, when the asymmetry of the dayside magnetopause current sheet is taken into account, the beta dependence of the collisionless tearing instability at the dayside magnetopause is controlled by the magnetic field profile across the magnetopause current sheet.

Ding, D. Q.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Observed currents on the earth's high-latitude magnetopause

A survey of electrical currents of the earth's magnetosphere, principally at high latitudes, as inferred from magnetic vector data acquired by the Hawkeye 1 satellite, is reported. A total of 536 candidate crossings of the magnetopause were examined. A reduced data set of 139 selected cases was analyzed in detail though solar wind dynamic pressure data were available for only 117 of these cases. Inferred values of the lineal current densities on the magnetopause are in the range 5.5 to 157.5 mA/m over a wide range of solar wind dynamic pressure from 1.17 to 16.1 nPa. The apparent normal thickness of the magnetopause current sheet ranges from 30 to 850 km with mean and median values of 185 and 158 km, respectively. It is argued that the radial rate of motion of the magnetopause is of the order of 2 km/s and hence that its true thickness is of similar magnitude. The relationship of these results to models of the geomagnetic field and to other related work is discussed.

Van Allen, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Anomalous plasma diffusion and the magnetopause boundary layer

An overview of the current state of anomalous diffusion research at the magnetopause and its role in the formation of the magnetopause boundary layer is presented. Plasma wave measurements in the boundary layer indicate that most of the relevant unstable wave modes contribute negligibly to the diffusion process at the magnetopause under magnetically undisturbed northward IMF conditions. The most promising instability is the lower hybrid drift instability, which may yield diffusion coefficients of the right order if the highest measured wave intensities are assumed. It is concluded that global stationary diffusion due to wave-particle interactions does not take place at the magnetopause. Microscopic wave-particle interaction and anomalous diffusion may contribute to locally break the MD frozen-in conditions and help in transporting large amounts of magnetosheath plasma across the magnetospheric boundary.

Treumann, Rudolf A.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Solution of the Chapman-Ferraro problem with an arbitrary magnetopause

We present a global model of the magnetic field of the magnetosphere that includes the effects of the Chapman-Ferraro currents at the magnetopause. In contrast to ealier models, the magnetopause shape is arbitrary, thus allowing the use of more realistic geometries. The internal magnetospheric field model of Hilmer and Voigt (1993), is completely shielded within the magnetopause by solving the Laplace equation with Neumann boundary conditions using a finite difference method on a non-orthogonal, curvilinear grid. The resulting model magnetosphere is perfectly closed although the method can also be applied with more general boundary conditions, to generate a set of open models based on the approach of Toffoletto and Hill (1989, 1993). The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the feasibility of a purely numerical approach to solving the Chapman-Ferraro problem with arbitrary magnetopause shape and boundary conditions.

Toffoletto, F. R.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Magnetopause encounters in the magnetotail at distances of approximately 80 R(sub e)

The GEOTAIL satellite experienced several encounters with the magnetopause during the interval 0300 to 0600 hours on 27 October 1992 at a gsm location of (X,Y,Z) approximately (-81, -8, 7.5) R(sub e). Energetic ions of both solar wind and ionospheric origin (H(+), He(++), and O(+)) were observed streaming in the anti-solar direction on both the lobe and magnetosheath side of the plasma mantle-magnetosheath boundary, with maximum fluxes occuring at the boundary. Even though the mantle plasma had penetrated well into the lobe through convective drift, the energetic ions were observed only at the magnetopause and provided a clear signature of the boundary region. Using a measured convective drift velocity and observed ergetic particle anisotropies, we estimated that the maximum distance from GEOTAIL that the energetic ions could have been accelerated or made contact with the boundary field lines was less than 8 - 39 R(sub e), implying that both solar wind and ionospheric ions are accelerated and contact the magnetopause many tens of earth radii behind the earth. We further found that the unusual magnetopause positions encountered at this time could be explained in part by solar wind aberration effects. However additional processes (e. g., magnetospheric breathing modes, convoluted tail topologies) are required to fully explain these observations.

Williams, D. J.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Kinetic Alfven waves as a source of plasma transport at the dayside magnetopause

As the shocked solar wind with variable plasma density and magnetic field impinges on the dayside magnetopause, it is likely to generate large-scale Alfven waves at the solar wind magnetosphere interface. However, large gradients in the density and magnetic field at the magnetopause boundary effectively couple large-scale Alfven waves with kinetic Alfven waves may play an important role in plasma transport at the dayside magnetopause and in electron acceleration along field lines. The transport can occur because, unlike the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) shear Alfven wave, the kinetic Alfven wave has an associated parallel electric field which breaks down the 'frozen-in' condition and decouples the plasma from field lines. We calculate the average deviation of the plasma from the field line from which we estimate the diffusion coefficient associated with these 'bundles' of lead to acceleration of electrons along field lines in the magnetopause boundary and may possibly provide an explanation for observed counterstreaming electron beams characterized by energies of 50-200 eV.

Lee, L. C.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Diffusion at the magnetopause: Hybrid simulations

Electromagnetic wave generation and resulting cross-field diffusion of plasma are considered at a tangential discontinuity, which characterizes the magnetopause for northward interplanetary magnetic field. Two-dimensional hybrid (particle ions, massless fluid electrons) simulations, in which the tangential discontinuity is generated self-consistently via a stream-stream interaction, are used to show that wave growth occurs when the ambient magnetic field is predominantly perpendicular to the direction of the density gradient. Low-frequency (much less than ion gyrofrequency) waves, with amplitudes delta B/B less than or equal to 0.2 and anticorrelated density fluctuations delta n/n less than or equal to 0.6, are generated at the discontinuity, resulting in cross-field diffusion that is comparable to the Bohm rate. Both the fluctuation level and the lack of ion heating in the calculations are consistent with observations at the magnetopause. The magnitude of the diffusion is considered in the presence of numerical effects and in the context of the inferred diffusion rate at the magnetopause. The relation of the low-frequency waves and their consequences to faster growing, short-wavelength waves due to the lower hybrid drift instability is also addressed. The overall conclusion of this initial study is that diffusion due to low frequency waves is not likely to be a major effect at the magnetopause.

Winske, D.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Structure of the magnetopause inferred from one-dimensional hybrid simulations

The structure of the magnetopause is investigated by studying the interaction between two plasmas with solar wind and magnetospheric properties. Both Hall-MHD and hybrid (particle ions and fluid electrons) simulations are performed to compare and contrast the nature of the solutions in the fluid and the kinetic limits. It is shown that, in accordance with previous studies, the fluid solutions consist of multiple discontinuities and waves such as slow shocks and waves, as well as contact and rotational discontinuities. In contrast, the kinetic solutions consist of fewer discontinuities and include non-MHD boundaries. The difference between the two types of solutions are attributed to the absence of contact surfaces in collisionless plasmas and the possible Landau damping of slow waves. The kinetic solutions are found to be in a much better agreement with magnetopause observations, which have shown little evidence for the presence of slow shocks or contact discontinuities. The results of kinetic calculations suggest that the presence of a small but finite normal component of the magnetic field allows for the mixing of magnetosheath and magnetospheric plasmas and may, in part, be responsible for the formation of the boundary layer even during the periods of northward interplanetary magnetic field. These results also show that the necessary changes in the fields and the plasma parameters across the magnetopause do not occur simultaneously (i.e., in the same spatial location). As such, the magnetopause cannot be viewed as a single boundary but instead is a region which includes both abrupt and gradual changes in the fields and plasma parameters.

Omidi, N.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Kinetic structure of intermediate shocks: Implications for the magnetopause

A general study of the structure and stability of intermediate shocks (IS) in an isotropic plasma is presented using a hybrid as well as a resistive Hall MHD code. Special emphasis is put on the question of whether the rotational layers observed at the magnetopause can be intermediate shocks. The shocks are formed dynamically by the interaction between a flowing plasma and a stationary piston. Coplanar ISs (both strong and weak) are found to be stable in a collisionless plasma. The existence of slow shocks in a high beta plasma is also established for the first time. Noncoplanar ISs are found to be time-dependent, evolving toward a rotational discontinuity (RD) after some characteristic time tau which can be quite long (1000 Omega(exp -1), where Omega is the ion gyrofrequency). The value tau is larger the closer the rotation angle is to 180 deg. Rotations larger than 180 deg are found to be unstable, decaying into a state of minimum shear (i.e., rotation angle less than 180 deg). There are various length scales associated with an IS in the kinetic regime. The shortest scale is found to be the length scale over which rotation of the transverse component of the magnetic field takes place. This scale can have a half width as small as one ion inertial length (c/omega(sub p)) for electron sense rotations and 3c/omega(sub p) for ion sense rotations, for an upstream ion beta of unity. Both of these scales are consistent with the observed thickness at the magnetopause and identical to the corresponding RD scales. A detailed study of the mode conversion of the Alfven ion cyclotron waves (A/IC) waves across both slow and intermediate shocks and the resulting downstream wave spectrum are presented. The possibility that the large number of relfected ions observed at the magnetopause may be due to the presence of strong ISs is considered. The identification of strong ISs and their distinction from RDs should be possible in observations due to significant differences that exist between jump conditions and overall structure of the two discontinuities. The jumps in the plasma parameters across a weak IS are typically small. This together with the fact that the weak ISs and RDs have very similar thickness and other overall properties makes the distinction between weak ISs and RDs in the observations largely inconsequential. However, at large noncoplanarity angles the weak IS approaches the RD limit in a relatively short time (approximately less than 100 Omega (exp -1)). Thus, magnetopause rotations with large noncoplanarity angles are most likely either RDs or strong ISs. Finally, direct comparisons between fluid (resistive Hall MHD) and kinetic simulations show that fluid theory is not applicable to study of ISs in a collisionless plasma.

Karimabadi, H.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Anomalous Flows at Dayside High-Latitude Magnetopause as Observed by Interball Tail Probe

We analyze magnetopause crossings at high latitudes dayside magnetopause as observed by Interball Tail probe. High time resolution plasma data show strong short-time flows near magnetopause that strongly deviate from surrounding magnetosheath flow. Several quasi- periodic velocity variations are observed at times. Plasma parameters, such as number density, temperature and bulk velocity-of these flows are close to magnetosheath values. These anomalous flows are observed almost at every magnetopause crossing in this region. The ion velocity distributions in these regions indicate the presence of open field lines. Observed properties of these flows suggest their association with reconnection at high latitudes.

Vaisberg, O. L.↗
NASA NTRS2006

MHD Flow Visualization of Magnetopause and Polar Cusps Vortices

Detailed analysis of Wind, Geotail, and Cluster data shows how magnetopause boundary and polar cusps vortices associated with high speed streams can be a carrier of energy flux to the Earth s magnetosphere. For our analysis time interval, March 29 . - April 5 2002, the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) is primarily northward and MHD simulations of vortices along the flanks within nine hours of the time interval suggest that a Kelvin Helmholtz (KH) instability is likely present. Vortices were classified by solar wind input provided by the Wind satellite located 70-80 RE upstream from Earth. We present statistics for a total of 304 vortices found near the ecliptic plane on the magnetopause flanks, 273 with northward IMF and 31 with southward IMF. The vortices generated under northward IMF were more driven into the dawnside than into the duskside, being substantially more ordered on the duskside. Most of the vortices were large in scale, up to 10 RE, and with a rotation axis closely aligned with the ZGSE direction. They rotated preferentially clockwise on the dawnside, and. counter-clockwise on the duskside. Those generated under southward IMF were less ordered, fewer in number, and also smaller in diameter. Significant vortex activity occurred on the nightside region of the magnetosphere for these southward cases in contrast to the northward IMF cases on which most of the activity was driven onto the magnetopause flanks. Magnetopause crossings seen by the Geotail spacecraft for the time interval were analyzed and compared with the MHD simulation to validate our results. Vortices over the polar cusps are also being analyzed and the simulation results will be compared to the multi-point measurements of the four Cluster satellites.

Collado-Vega, Y. M.↗