The origin of the flapping motion of the earth’s magnetotail current sheet is one of the most important problems in the magnetotail dynamics.Using Cluster data,we make a statistical research on the motion properties ...The origin of the flapping motion of the earth’s magnetotail current sheet is one of the most important problems in the magnetotail dynamics.Using Cluster data,we make a statistical research on the motion properties of the magnetotail current sheet of 2001 and 2003.We calculate the velocities of the magnetotail current sheet using new methods and obtain the distribution of the magnetotail current sheet velocities in the X-Y plane in GSE coordinate system.Our results show that although most of the current sheets were propagating toward the tail flanks and those of the exceptions lay in dusk side,which is consistent with previous studies,the proportions of the current sheet which were propagating toward midnight (where |YGSE|=0) were higher than those in previous studies.Motions of the current sheet in the middle area (|YGSE|【8 Re) of the magnetotail are investigated.Relatively high value of the Z component of the velocity further confirms that the middle area of the magnetotail might be a source region for the motion of the current sheets which were propagating towards the tail flanks.According to our case studies,the way the current sheets propagated toward midnight area differs significantly from that toward dusk and dawn side,from which we infer that there might be two different kinds of current sheet motions originated from different sources.The statistical results of this paper may give some clues for further studies on the origin of the flapping motion of the magnetotail current sheet.展开更多
A flapping wave was observed by THEMIS-B(P1)and THEMIS-C(P2)probes on the dawn side of the magnetotail,while the solar wind was generally stable.The magnetic activity was quite weak,suggesting that this flapping wave ...A flapping wave was observed by THEMIS-B(P1)and THEMIS-C(P2)probes on the dawn side of the magnetotail,while the solar wind was generally stable.The magnetic activity was quite weak,suggesting that this flapping wave was generated by an internal instability,which normally occurs during magnetic quiet times.Our analysis shows that the flapping wave was propagating downward with a tail-aligned scale of at least 3.7 R E and did not show much change in shape during its propagation from P1 to P2.Correlation analysis employed to estimate the time lag between the corresponding half waveforms of P1 and P2 shows that the propagating velocities along the current sheet normal directions were close to each other in the beginning,but increased linearly later on.The average wavelength of the flapping wave is approximately 4 R E.Theoretical analysis suggests that the ballooning type wave model may not be the mechanism for the observed flapping wave,but that the magnetic double-gradient instability model is a more plausible candidate.展开更多
The distribution properties of the magnetic field in magnetotail current sheets have been explored statistically with the magnetic measurement data of the Cluster mission from June to November of the years 2001–2005....The distribution properties of the magnetic field in magnetotail current sheets have been explored statistically with the magnetic measurement data of the Cluster mission from June to November of the years 2001–2005.It is found that,on average,the strength of the magnetic field and its Bz component in the current sheet are weaker in the region close to midnight but stronger near the dawnside and duskside flanks,which implies that,in general,a thinner current sheet occurs near midnight and thicker ones near both flanks.The occurrence of tail current sheet flapping is higher on both flanks than in the midnight region,although it is most frequent in the dawn flank.Current sheets with a negative Bz component or a strong By component have a higher probability of occurring at magnetic local times of 21:00–01:00,indicating that magnetic activity,e.g.magnetic reconnection and current disruption occur more frequently there.Statistically,the probability distributions of the By component and the tilt angle of magnetic field lines in the current sheet are approximately normal distributions,and the occurrence probability of the flattened current sheet is about one third that of the normal current sheet.The magnetic field and Bz component in the current sheet mainly vary from 1 nT to 10 nT.The By component in the tail central current sheet is on average twice the IMF By at 1 AU.展开更多
In this investigation effort, we eventually infer that the overall quadrapole pattern of B<sub>y</sub> deflections, in the vicinity of a source in the Earth’s magnetotail, is most likely due to field alig...In this investigation effort, we eventually infer that the overall quadrapole pattern of B<sub>y</sub> deflections, in the vicinity of a source in the Earth’s magnetotail, is most likely due to field aligned currents (FACs) and not to Hall currents associated with an X-type collisionless reconnection. This categorically expressed statement is based upon sufficient observational evidence tightly associated with our own suggested model and the preceded works of the same author. Using representative events measured by satellite, our main aim is to describe the nature of the fundamental mechanism determining the polarity of the B<sub>y</sub> deflections associated with intense earthward ionplasma flows. A major finding is that we either observe magnetic flux rope (MFR) like structures (that is, entities having all the morphological features of ropes; i.e., a dipolar signature of B<sub>z</sub> occurring simultaneously with peaked B<sub>y</sub> and B<sub>total</sub> deflections) or mere B<sub>y</sub> deflections, however, the sign for all these (B<sub>y</sub>deflections) is always determined by the satellite placement in north (positive) or south (negative) plasma sheet. Therefore, the MFR-like structures located earthward of the source are most likely pseudo-MFRs;there is neither a tubular topology nor an axial magnetic field, the B<sub>y</sub> deflections are produced by FACs. According to the presented model, a fundamental concept is that both ions and electrons are simultaneously accelerated at the source site;in turn, the earthward streaming electrons (ions) form a bifurcated electron (ion) FAC just outside the electron diffusion region-EDR (IDR). In this way, inside the IDR (and earthward of the source) positive (negative) B<sub>y</sub> deflections in north (south) plasma sheet (PS) are produced due to FACs, and not to (inward) Hall currents as in the context of an X-line. Moreover, the ions form an “ion jet” within the IDR, while just outside this region they produce positive (negative) B<sub>y</sub> deflections in north (south) PS caused by ion FACs. The ion jet in the IDR is enveloped by the bifurcated electron FAC. Eventually, although the resulting pattern of B<sub>y</sub> deflections, due to both electron and ion FACs, is apparently the same with that resulting from Hall currents (in the X-line model), the underlying natural processes are, however, radically different. Certainly, the dominant “spatial entity” within the IDR is the ion jet-current (and not the Hall-electron current). Additional implications of the ion jets are also discussed.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos.40874086,40604022,40890162)the National Basic Research Program of China ("973" Project) (Grant No.2006CB806305)+1 种基金the Shandong Natural Science Foundation (Grant No.2009ZRB01352)the Specialized Research Fund for State Key Laboratories in China
文摘The origin of the flapping motion of the earth’s magnetotail current sheet is one of the most important problems in the magnetotail dynamics.Using Cluster data,we make a statistical research on the motion properties of the magnetotail current sheet of 2001 and 2003.We calculate the velocities of the magnetotail current sheet using new methods and obtain the distribution of the magnetotail current sheet velocities in the X-Y plane in GSE coordinate system.Our results show that although most of the current sheets were propagating toward the tail flanks and those of the exceptions lay in dusk side,which is consistent with previous studies,the proportions of the current sheet which were propagating toward midnight (where |YGSE|=0) were higher than those in previous studies.Motions of the current sheet in the middle area (|YGSE|【8 Re) of the magnetotail are investigated.Relatively high value of the Z component of the velocity further confirms that the middle area of the magnetotail might be a source region for the motion of the current sheets which were propagating towards the tail flanks.According to our case studies,the way the current sheets propagated toward midnight area differs significantly from that toward dusk and dawn side,from which we infer that there might be two different kinds of current sheet motions originated from different sources.The statistical results of this paper may give some clues for further studies on the origin of the flapping motion of the magnetotail current sheet.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(41031065,41074106 and 40874086)Shandong Natural Science Foundation(JQ201112)partly by the National Basic Research Program of China(2011CB811404)
文摘A flapping wave was observed by THEMIS-B(P1)and THEMIS-C(P2)probes on the dawn side of the magnetotail,while the solar wind was generally stable.The magnetic activity was quite weak,suggesting that this flapping wave was generated by an internal instability,which normally occurs during magnetic quiet times.Our analysis shows that the flapping wave was propagating downward with a tail-aligned scale of at least 3.7 R E and did not show much change in shape during its propagation from P1 to P2.Correlation analysis employed to estimate the time lag between the corresponding half waveforms of P1 and P2 shows that the propagating velocities along the current sheet normal directions were close to each other in the beginning,but increased linearly later on.The average wavelength of the flapping wave is approximately 4 R E.Theoretical analysis suggests that the ballooning type wave model may not be the mechanism for the observed flapping wave,but that the magnetic double-gradient instability model is a more plausible candidate.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (40621003 and 40674094)the National Basic Research Program of China (2006CB806305)the Hundred Talents Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences,and the Specialized Research Fund for State Key Laboratories
文摘The distribution properties of the magnetic field in magnetotail current sheets have been explored statistically with the magnetic measurement data of the Cluster mission from June to November of the years 2001–2005.It is found that,on average,the strength of the magnetic field and its Bz component in the current sheet are weaker in the region close to midnight but stronger near the dawnside and duskside flanks,which implies that,in general,a thinner current sheet occurs near midnight and thicker ones near both flanks.The occurrence of tail current sheet flapping is higher on both flanks than in the midnight region,although it is most frequent in the dawn flank.Current sheets with a negative Bz component or a strong By component have a higher probability of occurring at magnetic local times of 21:00–01:00,indicating that magnetic activity,e.g.magnetic reconnection and current disruption occur more frequently there.Statistically,the probability distributions of the By component and the tilt angle of magnetic field lines in the current sheet are approximately normal distributions,and the occurrence probability of the flattened current sheet is about one third that of the normal current sheet.The magnetic field and Bz component in the current sheet mainly vary from 1 nT to 10 nT.The By component in the tail central current sheet is on average twice the IMF By at 1 AU.
文摘In this investigation effort, we eventually infer that the overall quadrapole pattern of B<sub>y</sub> deflections, in the vicinity of a source in the Earth’s magnetotail, is most likely due to field aligned currents (FACs) and not to Hall currents associated with an X-type collisionless reconnection. This categorically expressed statement is based upon sufficient observational evidence tightly associated with our own suggested model and the preceded works of the same author. Using representative events measured by satellite, our main aim is to describe the nature of the fundamental mechanism determining the polarity of the B<sub>y</sub> deflections associated with intense earthward ionplasma flows. A major finding is that we either observe magnetic flux rope (MFR) like structures (that is, entities having all the morphological features of ropes; i.e., a dipolar signature of B<sub>z</sub> occurring simultaneously with peaked B<sub>y</sub> and B<sub>total</sub> deflections) or mere B<sub>y</sub> deflections, however, the sign for all these (B<sub>y</sub>deflections) is always determined by the satellite placement in north (positive) or south (negative) plasma sheet. Therefore, the MFR-like structures located earthward of the source are most likely pseudo-MFRs;there is neither a tubular topology nor an axial magnetic field, the B<sub>y</sub> deflections are produced by FACs. According to the presented model, a fundamental concept is that both ions and electrons are simultaneously accelerated at the source site;in turn, the earthward streaming electrons (ions) form a bifurcated electron (ion) FAC just outside the electron diffusion region-EDR (IDR). In this way, inside the IDR (and earthward of the source) positive (negative) B<sub>y</sub> deflections in north (south) plasma sheet (PS) are produced due to FACs, and not to (inward) Hall currents as in the context of an X-line. Moreover, the ions form an “ion jet” within the IDR, while just outside this region they produce positive (negative) B<sub>y</sub> deflections in north (south) PS caused by ion FACs. The ion jet in the IDR is enveloped by the bifurcated electron FAC. Eventually, although the resulting pattern of B<sub>y</sub> deflections, due to both electron and ion FACs, is apparently the same with that resulting from Hall currents (in the X-line model), the underlying natural processes are, however, radically different. Certainly, the dominant “spatial entity” within the IDR is the ion jet-current (and not the Hall-electron current). Additional implications of the ion jets are also discussed.
