The location of magnetopause reconnection for northward and southward interplanetary magnetic field

Author(s):  
T. G. Onsager ◽  
S. S. Fuselier
1997 ◽  
Vol 102 (A6) ◽  
pp. 11349-11362 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Øieroset ◽  
P. E. Sandholt ◽  
W. F. Denig ◽  
S. W. H. Cowley

2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 1053-1063 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. V. Laitinen ◽  
Y. V. Khotyaintsev ◽  
M. André ◽  
A. Vaivads ◽  
H. Rème

Abstract. We present observations from two subsolar Cluster magnetopause crossings under southward interplanetary magnetic field and strong mirror mode fluctuations in the magnetosheath. In both events the reconnection outflow jets show strong variations on the timescale of one minute. We show that at least some of the recorded variations are truly temporal, not spatial. On the same timescale, mirror mode fluctuations appear as strong magnetic fluctuations in the magnetosheath next to the magnetopause. This suggests that mirror modes can cause the variations either through modulation of continuous reconnection or through triggering of bursty reconnection. Using a theoretical scaling law for asymmetric reconnection we show that modulation of reconnection at a single x-line can explain the observations of the first event. The second event cannot be explained by a single modulated x-line: there the evidence points to patchy and bursty reconnection.


2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (11) ◽  
pp. 943-959 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yann Pfau-Kempf ◽  
Heli Hietala ◽  
Steve E. Milan ◽  
Liisa Juusola ◽  
Sanni Hoilijoki ◽  
...  

Abstract. We present a scenario resulting in time-dependent behaviour of the bow shock and transient, local ion reflection under unchanging solar wind conditions. Dayside magnetopause reconnection produces flux transfer events driving fast-mode wave fronts in the magnetosheath. These fronts push out the bow shock surface due to their increased downstream pressure. The resulting bow shock deformations lead to a configuration favourable to localized ion reflection and thus the formation of transient, travelling foreshock-like field-aligned ion beams. This is identified in two-dimensional global magnetospheric hybrid-Vlasov simulations of the Earth's magnetosphere performed using the Vlasiator model (http://vlasiator.fmi.fi). We also present observational data showing the occurrence of dayside reconnection and flux transfer events at the same time as Geotail observations of transient foreshock-like field-aligned ion beams. The spacecraft is located well upstream of the foreshock edge and the bow shock, during a steady southward interplanetary magnetic field and in the absence of any solar wind or interplanetary magnetic field perturbations. This indicates the formation of such localized ion foreshocks.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Vuorinen ◽  
Heli Hietala ◽  
Ferdinand Plaschke

<p>Downstream of the Earth's quasi-parallel shock, transients with higher earthward velocities than the surrounding magnetosheath plasma are often observed. These transients have been named magnetosheath jets. Due to their high dynamic pressure, jets can cause multiple types of effects when colliding into the magnetopause. Recently, jets have been linked to triggering magnetopause reconnection in case studies by Hietala et al. (2018) and Nykyri et al. (2019). Jets have been proposed to affect magnetopause reconnection in multiple ways. Jets can compress the magnetopause and make it thin enough for reconnection to occur. Jets could also affect the magnetic shear either by indenting the magnetopause or via the magnetic field of the jets themselves. Here we want to study whether the magnetic field of jets can statistically affect magnetopause reconnection. In particular, we are interested in whether jets could enhance reconnection during more quiet northward IMF conditions.</p><p>We statistically study the magnetic field within jets in the subsolar magnetosheath using measurements from the five Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) spacecraft and OMNI solar wind data from 2008–2011. We investigate jets next to the magnetopause and find that the magnetic field within jets is statistically different compared to the non-jet magnetosheath. Our results suggest that during southward IMF, the non-jet magnetosheath magnetic field itself has more variation than the jets. This suggests that jets should have no statistical, neither enhancing nor suppressing, effect on reconnection during southward IMF. However, during northward IMF, the magnetic field within jets is statistically favorable for enhancing magnetic reconnection at the subsolar magnetopause as around 70 % of these jets exhibit southward fields close to the magnetopause.</p>


2003 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 1467-1482 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Pinnock ◽  
G. Chisham ◽  
I. J. Coleman ◽  
M. P. Freeman ◽  
M. Hairston ◽  
...  

Abstract. Using ionospheric data from the SuperDARN radar network and a DMSP satellite we obtain a comprehensive description of the spatial and temporal pattern of day-side reconnection. During a period of southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), the data are used to determine the location of the ionospheric projection of the dayside magnetopause reconnection X-line. From the flow of plasma across the projected X-line, we derive the reconnection rate across 7 h of longitude and estimate it for the total length of the X-line footprint, which was found to be 10 h of longitude. Using the Tsyganenko 96 magnetic field model, the ionospheric data are mapped to the magnetopause, in order to provide an estimate of the extent of the reconnection X-line. This is found to be ~ 38 RE in extent, spanning the whole dayside magnetopause from dawn to dusk flank. Our results are compared with previously reported encounters by the Equator-S and Geotail spacecraft with a reconnecting magnetopause, near the dawn flank, for the same period. The SuperDARN observations allow the satellite data to be set in the context of the whole magnetopause reconnection X-line. The total potential associated with dayside reconnection was ~ 150 kV. The reconnection signatures detected by the Equator-S satellite mapped to a region in the ionosphere showing continuous flow across the polar cap boundary, but the reconnection rate was variable and showed a clear spatial variation, with a distinct minimum at 14:00 magnetic local time which was present throughout the 30-min study period.Key words. Magnetospheric physics (magnetopause, cusp and boundary layers; magnetosphere-ionoshere interactions) – Space plasma physics (magnetic reconnection)


2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (10) ◽  
pp. 1-3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Praveen Kumar Gupta ◽  
◽  
Puspraj Singh Puspraj Singh ◽  
Puspraj Singh Puspraj Singh ◽  
P. K. Chamadia P. K. Chamadia

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