Three-dimensional structure of magnetic reconnection in the magnetotail from Geotail observations

Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics

Volumn 118, Issue 4, 2013, Pages 1667-1678

  Nagai, T ^a   Shinohara, I ^b   Zenitani, S ^c   Nakamura, R ^d   Nakamura, T K M ^e   Fujimoto, M ^b   Saito, Y ^b   Mukai, T ^b  

^a TOKYO INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY   (Japan)

^b JAPAN AEROSPACE EXPLORATION AGENCY   (Japan)

^c NATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY OF JAPAN   (Japan)

^d Austrian Academy of Sciences   (Austria)

^e LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY   (United States)

Author keywords

magnetic reconnection; magnetotail

Indexed keywords

EID: 84880733753     PISSN: None     EISSN: 21699402     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1002/jgra.50247     Document Type: Article

References (39)

1. Angelopoulos, V., et al. (1997), Magnetotail flow bursts: Association to global magnetospheric circulation, relationship to ionospheric activity and direct evidence for localization, Geophys. Res. Lett., 24, 2271-2274, doi: 10.1029/97GL02355.
2. Artemyev, A. V., A. A. Petrukovich, R. Nakamura, and, L. M. Zelenyi, (2011), Cluster statistics of thin current sheets in the Earth's magnetotail: Specifics of the dawn flank, proton temperature profiles and electrostatic effects, J. Geophys. Res., 116, A09233, doi: 10.1029/2011JA016801.
3. Birn, J., and, E. Priest, (Eds) (2007), Reconnection of Magnetic Fields, Magnetohydrodynamics and Collisionless Theory and Observations, pp. 1-356, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, U. K.
4. Borg, A. L., M. G. G. T. Taylor, and, J. P. Eastwood, (2012a), 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.
5. Borg, A. L., M. G. G. T. Taylor, and, J. P. Eastwood, (2012b), Observations of magnetic flux ropes during magnetic reconnection in the Earth's magnetotail, Ann. Geophys., 30, 761-773, doi: 10.5194/angeo-30-761-2012.
6. Eastwood, J. P., T. D. Phan, M. Øieroset, and, M. A. Shay, (2010), Average properties of the magnetic reconnection ion diffusion region in the Earth's magnetotail: 2001-2005 Cluster observations and comparison with simulations, J. Geophys. Res., 115, A08215, doi: 10.1029/2009JA014962.
7. Fujimoto, M., I. Shinohara, and, M. Kojima, (2011), Reconnection and waves: A review with a perspective, Space Sci. Rev., 160, 123-143.
8. Fuselier, S. A., and, W. S. Lewis, (2011), Properties of near-Earth magnetic reconnection from in-situ observations, Space Sci. Rev., 160, 95-121.
9. Hesse, M., K. Schindler, J. Birn, and, M. Kuznetsova, (1999), The diffusion region in collisionless magnetic reconnection, Phys. Plasmas, 6, 1781-1795.
10. Hesse, M., M. Kuznetsova, and, J. Birn, (2001), Particle-in-cell simulations of three-dimensional collisionless magnetic reconnection, J. Geophys. Res., 106, 29,831-29,841.
11. Hesse, M., T. Neukirch, K. Schindler, M. Kuznetsova, and, S. Zenitani, (2011), The diffusion region in collisionless magnetic reconnection, Space Sci. Rev., 160, 3-23.
12. Huang, S.Y., et al. (2012), Electron acceleration in the reconnection diffusion region: Cluster observations, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L11103, doi: 10.1029/2012GL051946.
13. Huba, J. D., and, L. I. Rudakov, (2002), Three-dimensional Hall magnetic reconnection, Phys. Plasmas, 9, 4435-4438, doi: 10.1063/1.1514970.
14. Huba, J. D., and, L. I. Rudakov, (2003), Hall magnetohydrodynamics of neutral layers, Phys. Plasmas, 10, 3139-3150. doi: 10.1063/1.1582474.
15. Imada, S., M. Hirai, M. Hoshino, and, T. Mukai, (2011), Favorable conditions for energetic electron acceleration during magnetic reconnection in the Earth's magnetotail, J. Geophys. Res., 116, A08217, doi: 10.1029/2011JA016576.
16. Imber, S. M., J. A. Slavin, H. U. Auster, and, V. Angelopoulos, (2011), A THEMIS survey of flux ropes and traveling compression regions: Location of the near-Earth reconnection site during solar minimum, J. Geophys. Res., 116, A02201, doi: 10.1029/2010JA016026.
17. Jain, N., A. Z. Sharma, L. M. Zelenyi, and, H. V. Malova, (2012), Electron scale structures of thin current sheets in magnetic reconnection, Ann. Geophys., 30, 661-666, doi: 10.5194/angeo-30-661-2012.
18. Kokubun, S., T. Yamamoto, M. H. Acuña, K. Hayashi, K. Shiokawa, and, H. Kawano, (1994), The Geotail magnetic field experiment, J. Geomagn. Geoelectr., 46, 7-21.
19. Mukai, T., S. Machida, Y. Saito, M. Hirahara, T. Terasawa, N. Kaya, T. Obara, M. Ejiri, and, A. Nishida, (1994), The low energy particle (LEP) experiment onboard the Geotail satellite, J. Geomagn. Geoelectr., 46, 669-692.
20. Nagai, T., (1982), Observed magnetic substorm signatures at synchronous altitude, J. Geophys. Res., 87, 4405-4417.
21. Nagai, T., (1987), Field-aligned currents associated with substorms in the vicinity of synchronous orbit, 2. GOES 2 and GOES 3observations, J. Geophys. Res., 92, 2432-2446.
22. Nagai, T., M. Fujimoto, Y. Saito, S. Machida, T. Terasawa, R. Nakamura, T. Yamamoto, T. Mukai, A. Nishida, and, S. Kokubun, (1998), Structure and dynamics of magnetic reconnection for substorm onsets with Geotail observations, J. Geophys. Res., 103, 4419-4440. (Pubitemid 128665095)
23. Nagai, T., I. Shinohara, M. Fujimoto, M. Hoshino, Y. Saito, S. Machida, and, T. Mukai, (2001), Geotail observations of the Hall current system: Evidence of magnetic reconnection in the magnetotail, J. Geophys. Res., 106, 25,929-25,949.
24. Nagai, T., I. Shinohara, M. Fujimoto, S. Machida, R. Nakamura, Y. Saito, and, T. Mukai, (2003), Structure of the Hall current system in the vicinity of the magnetic reconnection site, J. Geophys. Res., 108 (A10), 1357, doi: 10.1029/2003JA009900.
25. Nagai, T., M. Fujimoto, R. Nakamura, W. Baumjohann, A. Ieda, I. Shinohara, S. Machida, Y. Saito, and, T. Mukai, (2005), Solar wind control of the radial distance of the magnetic reconnection site in the magnetotail, J. Geophys. Res., 110, A09208, doi: 10.1029/2005JA011207.
26. Nagai, T., I. Shinohara, M. Fujimoto, A. Matsuoka, Y. Saito, and, T. Mukai, (2011), Construction of magnetic reconnection in the near-Earth magnetotail with Geotail, J. Geophys. Res., 116, A04222, doi: 10.1029/2010JA016283.
27. Nakabayashi, J., and, S. Machida, (1997), Electromagnetic hybrid-code simulation of magnetic reconnection: Velocity distribution functions of accelerated ions, Geophys. Res. Lett., 24, 1339-1342. (Pubitemid 127688757)
28. Nakamura, R., et al. (2004), Spatial scale of high-speed flows in the plasma sheet observed by Cluster, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L09804, doi: 10.1029/2004GL019558.
29. Nakamura, T. K. M., R. Nakamura, A. Alexandrova, Y. Kubota, and, T. Nagai, (2012), Hall magnetohydrodynamic effects for three-dimensional magnetic reconnection with finite width along the direction of the current, J. Geophys. Res., 117, A03220, doi: 10.1029/2011JA017006.
30. Paschmann, G., (2008), Recent in-situ observations of magnetic reconnection in near-Earth space, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L19109, doi: 10.1029/2008GL035297.
31. Pritchett, P. L., (2001), Collisionless magnetic reconnection in a three-dimensional open system, J. Geophys. Res., 106, 25,961-25,977.
32. Sergeev, V. A., V. Angelopoulos, J. Gosling, C. Cattell, and, C. Russell, (1996), Detection of localized, plasma-depleted flux tubes or bubbles in the midtail plasma sheet, J. Geophys. Res., 101, 10,817-10,826, doi: 10.1029/96JA00460.
33. Shay, M. A., J. F. Drake, M. Swisdak, W. Dorland, and, B. N. Rogers, (2003), Inherently three dimensional magnetic reconnection: A mechanism for bursty bulk flows?, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30 (6), 1345, doi: 10.1029/ 2002GL016267.
34. Shepherd, L. S., and, P. A. Cassak, (2012), Guide field dependence of 3-D X-line spreading during collisionless magnetic reconnection, J. Geophys. Res., 117, A10101, doi: 10.1029/2012JA017867.
35. Slavin, J. A., et al. (1997), WIND, Geotail, GOES 9 observations of magnetic field dipolarization and bursty bulk flows in the near-tail, Geophys. Res. Lett., 24, 971-974, doi: 10.1029/97GL00542. (Pubitemid 127688689)
36. Sonnerup, B. U. Ö., (1979), Magnetic field reconnection, in Solar System Plasma Physics, vol. 3, Solar System Plasma Processes, edited by, L. T. Lanzerotti, C. F. Kennel, and, E. N. Parker, pp. 45-108, North-Holland, New York.
37. Teh, W.-L., R. Nakamura, M. Fujimoto, E. A. Kronberg, A. N. Fazakerley, P. W. Daly, and, W. Baumjohann, (2012), Electron dynamics in the reconnection ion diffusion region, J. Geophys. Res., 117, A12225, doi: 10.1029/2012JA017896.
38. Vaivads, A., A. Retinò, Y. V. Khotyaintsev, and, M. André, (2011), Suprathermal electron acceleration during reconnection onset in the magnetotail, Ann. Geophys., 29, 1917-1925, doi: 10.5194/angeo-29-1917-2011.
39. Zenitani, S., I. Shinohara, and, T. Nagai, (2012), Evidence for the dissipation region in magnetotail reconnection, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L11102, doi: 10.1029/2012GL051938.