Observations of magnetic flux ropes during magnetic reconnection in the Earth's magnetotail

Annales Geophysicae

Volumn 30, Issue 5, 2012, Pages 761-773

  Borg, A L ^a   Taylor, M G G T ^a   Eastwood, J P ^b  

^a EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY   (Netherlands)

^b IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Magnetospheric physics (Magnetotail); Space plasma physics (Magnetic reconnection)

Indexed keywords

MAGNETIC FIELD; MAGNETOSPHERE; MAGNETOTAIL; SATELLITE MISSION;

EID: 84860608745     PISSN: 09927689     EISSN: 14320576     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.5194/angeo-30-761-2012     Document Type: Article

References (40)

1. Asano, Y., Nakamura, R., Shinohara, I., Fujimoto, M., Takada, T., Baumjohann, W., Owen, C. J., Fazakerley, A. N., Runov, A., Na-gai, T., Lucek, E. A., and Rème, H.: Electron flat-top distributions around the magnetic reconnection region, J. Geophys. Res., 113, A01207, doi:10.1029/2007JA012461, 2008.
2. Baker, D., Pulkkinen, T., Angelopoulos, V., Baumjohann, W., and McPherron, R.: Neutral line model of substorms: Past results and present view, J. Geophys. Res., 101, 12975-13010, doi:10.1029/95JA03753, 1996.
3. Balogh, A., Carr, C. M., Acuña, M. H., Dunlop, M. W., Beek, T. J., Brown, P., Fornacon, K.-H., Georgescu, E., Glassmeier, K.H., Harris, J., Musmann, G., Oddy, T., and Schwingenschuh, K.: The Cluster Magnetic Field Investigation: overview of in-flight performance and initial results, Ann. Geophys., 19, 1207-1217, doi:10.5194/angeo-19-1207-2001, 2001.
4. Baumjohann, W., Paschmann, G., and Lühr, H.: Characteristics of High-Speed Ion Flows in the Plasma Sheet, J. Geophys. Res., 95, 3801-3809, doi:10.1029/JA095iA04p03801, 1990.
5. Borg, A. L., Taylor, M. G. G. T., and Eastwood, J. P.: Electron pitch angle distribution during magnetic reconnection diffusion region observations in the Earth's magnetotail, Ann. Geophys., 30, 109-117, doi:10.5194/angeo-30-109- 2012, 2012.
6. Chen, L.-J., Bhattacharjee, A., Puhl-Quinn, P. A., Yang, H., Bessho, N., Imada, S., Mühlbachler, S., Daly, P. W., Lefebvre, B., Khotyaintsev, Y., Vaivads, A., Fazakerley, A., and Georgescu, E.: Observation of energetic electrons within magnetic islands, Nature Physics, 4, 19-23, doi:10.1038/nphys777, 2007.
7. Daughton, W., Scudder, J., and Karimabadi, H.: Fully kinetic simulations of undriven magnetic reconnection with open boundary conditions, Phys. Plasmas 13, 072101, doi:10.1063/1.2218817, 2006. (Pubitemid 44179685)
8. Deng, X. H., Matsumoto, H., Kojima, H., Mukai, T., Anderson, R. R., Baumjohann, W., and Nakamura, R.: Geotail encounter with reconnection diffusion region in the Earth's magnetotail: Evidence of multiple X lines collisionless reconnection?, J. Geo-phys. Res., 109, A05206, doi:10.1029/2003JA010031, 2004.
9. Drake, J. F., Swisdak, M., Che, H., and Shay, M. A.: Electron acceleration from contracting magnetic islands during reconnection, Nature, 443, 553-556, doi:10.1038/nature05116, 2006a. (Pubitemid 44527287)
10. Drake, J. F., Swisdak, M., Schoeffler, K. M., Rogers, B. N., and Kobayashi, S.: Formation of secondary islands during magnetic reconnection, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L13105, doi:10.1029/2006GL025957, 2006b. (Pubitemid 44945915)
11. Eastwood, J. P., Sibeck, D. G., Slavin, J. A., Goldstein, M. L., Lavraud, B., Sitnov, M., Imber, S., Balogh, A., Lucek, E. A., and Dandouras, I.: Observations of multiple X-line structure in the Earth's magnetotail current sheet: A Cluster case study, Geo-phys. Res. Lett., 32, L11105, doi:10.1029/2005GL022509, 2005. (Pubitemid 41174804)
12. Eastwood, J. P., Phan, T.-D., Mozer, F. S. Shay, M. A., Fujimoto, M., Retinò, A., Hesse, M., Balogh, A., Lucek, E. A., and Dandouras, I.: Multi-point observations of the Hall electromagnetic field and secondary island formation during magnetic reconnection, J. Geophys. Res., 112, A06235, doi:10.1029/2006JA012158, 2007.
13. Eastwood, J. P., Phan, T. D., Bale, S. D., and Tjulin, A.: Observations of turbulence generated by magnetic reconnection, Phys. Rev. Lett., 102, 035001, doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.035001, 2009.
14. Eastwood, J. P., Phan, T. D., Øieroset, M., and Shay, M. A.: Average properties of the magnetic reconnection ion diffusion region in the Earth's magnetotail: The 2001-2005 Cluster observations and comparison with simulations, J. Geophys. Res., 115, A08215, doi:10.1029/2009JA014962, 2010a.
15. Eastwood, J. P., Shay, M. A., Phan, T. D., and Øieroset, M.: Asymmetry of the Ion Diffusion Region Hall Electric and Magnetic Fields during Guide Field Reconnection: Observations and Comparison with Simulations, Phys. Rev. Lett., 104, 205001, doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.205001, 2010b.
16. Gustafsson, G., André, M., Carozzi, T., Eriksson, A. I., Fälthammar, C.-G., Grard, R., Holmgren, G., Holtet, J. A., Ivchenko, N., Karlsson, T., Khotyaintsev, Y., Klimov, S., Laakso, H., Lindqvist, P.-A., Lybekk, B., Marklund, G., Mozer, F., Mursula, K., Peder-sen, A., Popielawska, B., Savin, S., Stasiewicz, K., Tanskanen, P., Vaivads, A., and Wahlund, J.-E.: First results of electric field and density observations by Cluster EFW based on initial months of operation, Ann. Geophys., 19, 1219-1240, doi:10.5194/angeo- 19-1219-2001, 2001.
17. Hughes, W. J. and Sibeck, D. G.: On the 3-dimensional structure of plasmoids, Geophys. Res. Lett., 14, 636-639, doi:10.1029/GL014i006p00636, 1987.
18. Johnstone, A. D., Alsop, C., Burge, S., Carter, P. J., Coates, A. J., Coker, A. J., Fazakerley, A. N., Grande, M., Gowen, R. A., Gur-giolo, C., Hancock, B. K., Narheim, B., Preece, A., Sheather, P. H., Winningham, J. D., and Woodliffe, R. D.: PEACE: A plasma electron and current experiment, Space Sci. Rev., 79, 351-398, doi:10.1023/A:1004938001388, 1997. (Pubitemid 127505545)
19. King, J. H. and Papitashvili, N. E.: Solar wind spatial scales in and comparisons of hourly Wind and ACE plasma and magnetic field data, J. Geophys. Res., 110, A02104, doi:10.1029/2004JA010649, 2005. (Pubitemid 44228258)
20. Khotyaintsev, Yu. V., Vaivads, A., André, M., Fujimoto, M., Retinò, A., and Owen, C. J.: Observations of Slow Electron Holes at a Magnetic Reconnection Site, Phys. Rev. Lett., 105, 165002, doi:10.1103/ PhysRevLett.105.165002, 2010.
21. Laakso, H., Perry, C., McCaffrey, S., Herment, D., Allen, A. J., Harvey, C. C., Escoubet, C. P., Gruenberger, C., Taylor, M. G. G. T., and Turner, R.: Cluster Active Archive: Overview, 3-37, The Cluster Active Archive, Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings, edited by: Laakso, H., Taylor, M. G. G. T., and Es-coubet, C. P., Springer, 2010.
22. Lui, A. T. Y., Dunlop, M. W., Rème, H., Kistler, L. M., Gustafs-son, G., and Zong, Q.-G.: Internal structure of a magnetic flux rope from Cluster observations, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L07102, doi:10.1029/ 2007GL029263, 2007. (Pubitemid 46957856)
23. Liu, C. X., Jin, S. P., Wei, F. S., Lu, Q. M., and Yang, H. A.: Plasmoid-like structures in multiple X line Hall MHD reconnection, J. Geophys. Res., 114, A10208, doi:10.1029/2009JA014257, 2009.
24. Moldwin, M. and Hughes, W.: On the Formation and Evolution of Plasmoids: A Survey of ISEE 3 Geotail Data, J. Geophys. Res., 97, 19259-19282, doi:10.1029/92JA01598, 1992.
25. Möstl, C., Farrugia, C. J., Biernat, H. K., Kiehas, S. A., Naka-mura, R., Ivanova, V. V., and Khotyaintsev, Y.: The structure of an earthward propagating magnetic flux rope early in its evolution: comparison of methods, Ann. Geophys., 27, 2215-2224, doi:10.5194/angeo-27-2215-2009, 2009.
26. Mukai, T., Fujimoto, M., Hoshino, M., Kokubun, S., Machida, S., Maezawa, K., Nishida, A., Saito, Y., Teresawa, T., and Ya-mamoto, T.: Structure and kinetic properties of plasmoids and their boundary regions, J. Geomagn. Geoelectr., 48, 541-560, 1996.
27. Nakagawa, T. and Nishida, A.: Southward magnetic field in the neutral sheet produced by wavy motions propagating in the dawn-dusk direction, Geophys. Res. Lett., 16, 1265-1268, doi:10.1029/GL016i011p01265, 1989.
28. Pedersen, A., Lybekk, B., André, M., Eriksson, A., Masson, A., Mozer, F. S., Lindqvist, P.-A., Décréau, P. M. E., Dandouras, I., Sauvaud, J.-A., Fazakerley, A., Taylor, M. G. G. T., Paschmann, G., Svenes, K. R., Torkar, K., and Whipple, E.: Electron density estimations derived from spacecraft potential measurements on Cluster in tenuous plasma regions, J. Geophys. Res., 113, A07S33, doi:10.1029/2007JA012636, 2008.
29. Rème, H., Aoustin, C., Bosqued, J. M., Dandouras, I., Lavraud, B., Sauvaud, J. A., Barthe, A., Bouyssou, J., Camus, Th., Coeur-Joly, O., Cros, A., Cuvilo, J., Ducay, F., Garbarowitz, Y., Medale, J. L., Penou, E., Perrier, H., Romefort, D., Rouzaud, J., Vallat, C., Alcaydé, D., Jacquey, C., Mazelle, C., d'Uston, C., Möbius, E., Kistler, L. M., Crocker, K., Granoff, M., Mouikis, C., Popecki, M., Vosbury, M., Klecker, B., Hovestadt, D., Kucharek, H., Kuenneth, E., Paschmann, G., Scholer, M., Sckopke, N., Seidenschwang, E., Carlson, C. W., Curtis, D. W., Ingraham, C., Lin, R. P., McFadden, J. P., Parks, G. K., Phan, T., Formisano, V., Amata, E., Bavassano-Cattaneo, M. B., Baldetti, P., Bruno, R., Chion-chio, G., Di Lellis, A., Marcucci, M. F., Pallocchia, G., Korth, A., Daly, P. W., Graeve, B., Rosenbauer, H., Vasyliunas, V., McCarthy, M., Wilber, M., Eliasson, L., Lundin, R., Olsen, S., Shelley, E. G., Fuselier, S., Ghielmetti, A. G., Lennartsson, W., Es-coubet, C. P., Balsiger, H., Friedel, R., Cao, J.-B., Kovrazhkin, R. A., Papamastorakis, I., Pellat, R., Scudder, J., and Sonnerup, B.: First multispacecraft ion measurements in and near the Earth's magnetosphere with the identical Cluster ion spectrometry (CIS) experiment, Ann. Geophys., 19, 1303-1354, doi:10.5194/angeo-19-1303-2001, 2001.
30. Retinò, A., Nakamura, R., Vaivads, A., Khotyaintsev, Y., Hayakawa, T., Tanaka, K., Kasahara, S., Fujimoto, M., Shinohara, I., Eastwood, J. P., André, M., Baumjohann, W., Daly, P. W., Kronberg, E. A., and Cornilleau-Wehrlin, N.: Cluster observations of energetic electrons and electromagnetic fields within a reconnecting thin current sheet in the Earth's magnetotail, J. Geophys. Res., 113, A12215, doi:10.1029/2008JA013511, 2008.
31. Schindler, K.: A Theory of the Substorm Mechanism, J. Geophys. Res., 79, 2803-2810, doi:10.1029/JA079i019p02803, 1974.
32. Shirataka, N., Fujimoto, M., Hasegawa, H., and TanDokoro, R.: Reproducing the bipolar magnetic signature at the jet leading edge by three-dimensional reconnection with nonzero guide field, J. Geophys. Res., 111, A07201, doi:10.1029/2005JA011521, 2006. (Pubitemid 46140828)
33. Slavin, J. A., Lepping, R. P., Gjerloev, J., Fairfield, D. H., Hesse, M., Owen, C. J., Moldwin, M. B., Nagai, T., Ieda, A., and Mukai, T.: Geotail observations of magnetic flux ropes in the plasma sheet, J. Geophys. Res., 108, 1015, doi:10.1029/2002JA009557, 2003a.
34. Slavin, J. A., Lepping, R. P., Gjerloev, J., Goldstein, M. L., Fair-field, D. H., Acuna, M. H., Balogh, A., Dunlop, M., Kivelson, M. G., Khurana, K., Fazakerley, A., Owen, C. J., Rème, H., and Bosqued, J. M.: Cluster electric current density measurements within a magnetic flux rope in the plasma sheet, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30, 1362, doi:10.1029/2002GL016411, 2003b.
35. Slavin, J. A., Tanskanen, E. I., Hesse, M., Owen, C. J., Dun-lop, M. W., Imber, S., Lucek, E. A., Balogh, A., and Glassmeier, K.-H.: Cluster observations of traveling compression regions in the near-tail, J. Geophys. Res., 110, A06207, doi:10.1029/2004JA010878, 2005. (Pubitemid 44228378)
36. Snekvik, K., Haaland, S., Østgaard, N., Hasegawa, H., Nakamura, R., Takada, T., Juusola, L., Amm, O., Pitout, F., Rème, H., Klecker, B., and Lucek, E. A.: Cluster observations of a field aligned current at the dawn flank of a bursty bulk flow, Ann. Geo-phys., 25, 1405-1415, doi:10.5194/angeo- 25-1405-2007, 2007. (Pubitemid 47142662)
37. Teh, W.-L., Eriksson, S., Sonnerup, B. U. Ö., Ergun, R., Angelopou-los, V., Glassmeier, K.-H., McFadden, J. P., and Bonnell, J. W.: THEMIS observations of a secondary magnetic island within the Hall electromagnetic field region at the magnetopause, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L21102, doi:10.1029/2010GL045056, 2010.
38. Walsh, A. P., Owen, C. J., Fazakerley, A. N., Forsyth, C., and Dan-douras, I.: Average magnetotail electron and proton pitch angle distributions from Cluster PEACE and CIS observations, Geo-phys. Res. Lett., 38, L06103, doi:10.1029/2011GL046770, 2011.
39. Wilken, B., Daly, P. W., Mall, U., Aarsnes, K., Baker, D. N., Belian, R. D., Blake, J. B., Borg, H., Büchner, J., Carter, M., Fennell, J. F., Friedel, R., Fritz, T. A., Gliem, F., Grande, M., Kecskemety, K., Kettmann, G., Korth, A., Livi, S., McKenna-Lawlor, S., Mur-sula, K., Nikutowski, B., Perry, C. H., Pu, Z. Y., Roeder, J., Reeves, G. D., Sarris, E. T., Sandahl, I., Søraas, F., Woch, J., and Zong, Q.-G.: First results from the RAPID imaging energetic particle spectrometer on board Cluster, Ann. Geophys., 19, 1355-1366, doi:10.5194/angeo-19-1355-2001, 2001.
40. Wygant, J. R., Cattell, C. A., Lysak, R., Song, Y., Dombeck, J., McFadden, J., Mozer, F. S., Carlson, C. W., Parks, G., Lucek, E. A., Balogh, A., André, M., Rème, H., Hesse, M., and Mouikis, C.: Cluster observations of an intense normal component of the electric field at a thin reconnecting current sheet in the tail and its role in the shock-like acceleration of the ion fluid into the separatrix region, J. Geophys. Res., 110, A09206, doi:10.1029/2004JA010708, 2005. (Pubitemid 44235026)