Transient, small-scale field-aligned currents in the plasma sheet boundary layer during storm time substorms

Nakamura, R.; Sergeev, V. A.; Baumjohann, W.; Plaschke, F.; Magnes, W.; Fischer, D.; Varsani, A.; Schmid, D.; Nakamura, T. K. M.; Russell, C. T.; Strangeway, R. J.; Leinweber, H. K.; Le, G.; Bromund, K. R.; Pollock, C. J.; Giles, B. L.; Dorelli, J. C.; Gershman, D. J.; Paterson, W.; Avanov, L. A.; Fuselier, S. A.; Genestreti, K.; Burch, J. L.; Torbert, R. B.; Chutter, M.; Argall, M. R.; Anderson, B. J.; Lindqvist, P. A.; Marklund, G. T.; Khotyaintsev, Y. V.; Mauk, B. H.; Cohen, I. J.; Baker, D. N.; Jaynes, A. N.; Ergun, R. E.; Singer, H. J.; Slavin, J. A.; Kepko, E. L.; Moore, T. E.; Lavraud, B.; Coffey, V.; Saito, Y.

doi:10.1002/2016gl068768

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Transient, small-scale field-aligned currents in the plasma sheet boundary layer during storm time substorms

2016
By Nakamura, R. ; Sergeev, V. A. ; Baumjohann, W. ; ...

Details

Journal Title:

Geophysical Research Letters
Personal Author:

Nakamura, R. ; Sergeev, V. A. ; Baumjohann, W. ; Plaschke, F. ; Magnes, W. ; Fischer, D. ; Varsani, A. ; Schmid, D. ; Nakamura, T. K. M. ; Russell, C. T. ; Strangeway, R. J. ; Leinweber, H. K. ; Le, G. ; Bromund, K. R. ; Pollock, C. J. ; Giles, B. L. ; Dorelli, J. C. ; Gershman, D. J. ; Paterson, W. ; Avanov, L. A. ; Fuselier, S. A. ; Genestreti, K. ; Burch, J. L. ; Torbert, R. B. ; Chutter, M. ; Argall, M. R. ; Anderson, B. J. ; Lindqvist, P. A. ; Marklund, G. T. ; Khotyaintsev, Y. V. ; Mauk, B. H. ; Cohen, I. J. ; Baker, D. N. ; Jaynes, A. N. ; Ergun, R. E. ; Singer, H. J. ; Slavin, J. A. ; Kepko, E. L. ; Moore, T. E. ; Lavraud, B. ; Coffey, V. ; Saito, Y.
NOAA Program & Office:

NWS (National Weather Service)
Description:

We report on field-aligned current observations by the four Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft near the plasma sheet boundary layer (PSBL) during two major substorms on 23 June 2015. Small-scale field-aligned currents were found embedded in fluctuating PSBL flux tubes near the separatrix region. We resolve, for the first time, short-lived earthward (downward) intense field-aligned current sheets with thicknesses of a few tens of kilometers, which are well below the ion scale, on flux tubes moving equatorward/earthward during outward plasma sheet expansion. They coincide with upward field-aligned electron beams with energies of a few hundred eV. These electrons are most likely due to acceleration associated with a reconnection jet or high-energy ion beam-produced disturbances. The observations highlight coupling of multiscale processes in PSBL as a consequence of magnetotail reconnection.
Source:

Geophysical Research Letters, 43(10), 4841-4849.
DOI:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2016gl068768
Document Type:

Journal Article
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CC BY
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urn:sha256:eb3e81d360d3e7c7c6513b8c644a42c13417e2fb8d65804cd5b6f121aa68386a
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https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/15275/noaa_15275_DS1.pdf
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