Solar wind control of density and temperature in the near‐Earth plasma sheet: WIND/GEOTAIL collaboration

Terasawa, T.; Fujimoto, M.; Mukai, T.; Shinohara, I.; Saito, Y.; Yamamoto, T.; Machida, S.; Kokubun, S.; Lazarus, A. J.; Steinberg, J. T.; Lepping, R. P.

doi:10.1029/96gl04018

Cited by 281 publications

(299 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Strong dependence of the nightside current on the solar wind dynamic pressure P sw is consistent with observations of Terasawa et al (1997), who found that the plasma pressure in the plasma sheet is related to P sw . One can expect the growth of the cross-tail current with pressure increasing.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Azimuthally asymmetric ring current as a function of Dst and solar wind conditions

Maltsev

Остапенко

2004

Ann. Geophys.

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Abstract. Based on magnetic data, spatial distribution of the westward ring current flowing at |z|<3 R E has been found under five levels of D st , five levels of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) z component, and five levels of the solar wind dynamic pressure P sw . The maximum of the current is located near midnight at distances 5 to 7 R E . The magnitude of the nightside and dayside parts of the westward current at distances from 4 to 9 R E can be approximated as I night =1.75−0.041 D st , I noon =0.22−0.013 D st , where the current is in MA. The relation of the nightside current to the solar wind parameters can be expressed as I night =1.45−0.20 B s IMF+0.32 P sw , where B s IMF is the IMF southward component. The dayside ring current poorly correlates with the solar wind parameters.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Azimuthally asymmetric ring current as a function of Dst and solar wind conditions

Maltsev

Остапенко

2004

Ann. Geophys.

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“…Although previous studies have demonstrated that enhanced amounts of plasma enter to form a relatively thick, lowlatitude boundary layer 2,12,13 and a denser plasma sheet 13,14 when the IMF is northward even during quiet times, the dominant mechanism of solar wind entry into the magnetosphere (and entry location on the magnetopause) under these conditions is less clear and still controversial. It is still not very clearly understood whether the entering plasma is a result of the highlatitude MR 12,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] , impulsive penetration 23,24 , or from the low latitudes through instabilities 25,26 or gradient drift 27 .…”

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confidence: 98%

Solar wind entry into the high-latitude terrestrial magnetosphere during geomagnetically quiet times

et al. 2013

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An understanding of the transport of solar wind plasma into and throughout the terrestrial magnetosphere is crucial to space science and space weather. For non-active periods, there is little agreement on where and how plasma entry into the magnetosphere might occur. Moreover, behaviour in the high-latitude region behind the magnetospheric cusps, for example, the lobes, is poorly understood, partly because of lack of coverage by previous space missions. Here, using Cluster multi-spacecraft data, we report an unexpected discovery of regions of solar wind entry into the Earth's high-latitude magnetosphere tailward of the cusps. From statistical observational facts and simulation analysis we suggest that these regions are most likely produced by magnetic reconnection at the high-latitude magnetopause, although other processes, such as impulsive penetration, may not be ruled out entirely. We find that the degree of entry can be significant for solar wind transport into the magnetosphere during such quiet times.

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“…[40] The average ion density n i and temperature T i showed the well-known tendency for the plasma sheet to be cold and dense when the IMF was northward [Terasawa et al, 1997;Fujimoto et al, 1998;Garner et al, 2003;Wang et al, 2006]. Figure 8 shows n i for the four models.…”

Section: Sorting By Imf Directionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ion heat flux and energy transport near the magnetotail neutral sheet

Kaufmann

Paterson

2008

J. Geophys. Res.

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[1] Ten-year averages of energy transport rates near the neutral sheet showed that the enthalpy flux density or thermal energy term Q T = (5/2)PV was the largest, where P is the isotropic pressure and V is the bulk flow velocity. The ion heat flux, q i , was the next largest term. Sorting data using a magnetic flux transport parameter showed that q i could become dominant during periods of slow flow. Both q i and the ion bulk velocity V i were duskward on the dusk side of the neutral sheet. This relationship is characteristic of crosstail drift and a heat flux that can be attributed to the energy dependent gradient and curvature drifts. The q i and V i vectors often pointed in different directions on the dawn side. The x component of q i on the dawn side pointed tailward, suggesting entry through the magnetopause of a suprathermal ion component. On the dusk side the q ix plots that were sorted using a magnetic flux transport parameter showed evidence of plasma sheet reconnection. The long-term averaged x component of Q T pointed earthward almost everywhere in the neutral sheet, and was attributed to periods of very fast plasma flow. The cross-tail component of Q T was separated into two contributions. One part of Q Ty involved a common drift away from midnight during both earthward and tailward fast flows. This feature suggests that thermal energy and plasma flow from the outer plasma sheet toward the neutral sheet near midnight, and then toward the flanks. The other part of Q Ty involved a differential duskward drift during fast earthward flows and a dawnward drift during fast tailward flows. The incremental E fields that would produce such convection point tailward during the fastest earthward flows and earthward during the fastest tailward flows. The dependencies of V i , q i and Q T on the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) clock angle also were studied. Both V i and Q T were reduced when the IMF was northward and the neutral sheet plasma became cold and dense. However, no dependence of q i on the IMF direction was seen. This shows that the generation of a cold dense plasma sheet does not substantially change the distribution of the suprathermal ions that are most important in the production of q i .Citation: Kaufmann, R. L., and W. R. Paterson (2008), Ion heat flux and energy transport near the magnetotail neutral sheet,

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Solar wind control of density and temperature in the near‐Earth plasma sheet: WIND/GEOTAIL collaboration

Cited by 281 publications

References 17 publications

Azimuthally asymmetric ring current as a function of <i>D<sub>st</sub></i> and solar wind conditions

Azimuthally asymmetric ring current as a function of <i>D<sub>st</sub></i> and solar wind conditions

Solar wind entry into the high-latitude terrestrial magnetosphere during geomagnetically quiet times

Ion heat flux and energy transport near the magnetotail neutral sheet

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Solar wind control of density and temperature in the near‐Earth plasma sheet: WIND/GEOTAIL collaboration

Cited by 281 publications

References 17 publications

Azimuthally asymmetric ring current as a function of &lt;i&gt;D&lt;sub&gt;st&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/i&gt; and solar wind conditions

Azimuthally asymmetric ring current as a function of &lt;i&gt;D&lt;sub&gt;st&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/i&gt; and solar wind conditions

Solar wind entry into the high-latitude terrestrial magnetosphere during geomagnetically quiet times

Ion heat flux and energy transport near the magnetotail neutral sheet

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Product

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Azimuthally asymmetric ring current as a function of <i>D<sub>st</sub></i> and solar wind conditions

Azimuthally asymmetric ring current as a function of <i>D<sub>st</sub></i> and solar wind conditions