Transient, small-scale field-aligned currents in the plasma sheet boundary layer during storm time substorms
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 reg...
Publié dans: | Geophysical research letters. - 1984. - 43(2016), 10 vom: 28. Mai, Seite 4841-4849 |
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Auteur principal: | |
Autres auteurs: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article |
Langue: | English |
Publié: |
2016
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Accès à la collection: | Geophysical research letters |
Sujets: | Journal Article MMS PSBL electron beam field‐aligned currents |
Résumé: | 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 |
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Description: | Date Revised 12.02.2021 published: Print-Electronic Citation Status PubMed-not-MEDLINE |
ISSN: | 0094-8276 |