Low frequency electromagnetic fluctuations in the vicinity of a magnetospheric substorm onset were investigated using simultaneous observations by THEMIS multiple probes in the near-Earth plasma sheet in the magnetota...Low frequency electromagnetic fluctuations in the vicinity of a magnetospheric substorm onset were investigated using simultaneous observations by THEMIS multiple probes in the near-Earth plasma sheet in the magnetotail.The observations indicate that in the vicinity of a substorm onset,kinetic Alfvén waves can be excited in the high-βplasma sheet(β=2μ0nT/B 2 ,the ratio of plasma thermal pressure to magnetic pressure)within the near-Earth magnetotail.The kinetic Alfvén wave has a small spatial scale in the high-βplasma.The parallel electric field accompanying kinetic Alfvén waves accelerates the charged particles along the magnetic field.The kinetic Alfvén waves play an important role in the substorm trigger process,and possibly in the formation of a substorm current wedge.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(40974099,40731054,40704027 and 40921063)the Specialized Research Fund for State Key Laboratories and the National Basic Research Program of China(2011CB811404)
文摘Low frequency electromagnetic fluctuations in the vicinity of a magnetospheric substorm onset were investigated using simultaneous observations by THEMIS multiple probes in the near-Earth plasma sheet in the magnetotail.The observations indicate that in the vicinity of a substorm onset,kinetic Alfvén waves can be excited in the high-βplasma sheet(β=2μ0nT/B 2 ,the ratio of plasma thermal pressure to magnetic pressure)within the near-Earth magnetotail.The kinetic Alfvén wave has a small spatial scale in the high-βplasma.The parallel electric field accompanying kinetic Alfvén waves accelerates the charged particles along the magnetic field.The kinetic Alfvén waves play an important role in the substorm trigger process,and possibly in the formation of a substorm current wedge.
