Magnetic reconnection is one of the most important,dynamic phenomena in the magnetotail in terms of magnetic field line configuration change and energy release.It is believed to occur in the distant magnetotail mainly...Magnetic reconnection is one of the most important,dynamic phenomena in the magnetotail in terms of magnetic field line configuration change and energy release.It is believed to occur in the distant magnetotail mainly during southward interplanetary magnetic field periods and in the near-Earth magnetotail in association with substorms.In the present paper,we discuss several important issues concerning magnetic reconnection in the magnetotail associated with substorms,such as reconnection signatures,location,timing,spatial scale,and behavior,from the macroscopic,observational point of view.展开更多
On the basis of the plasma, electric and magnetic fields jointly observed by Cluster and the Double Star TC-1 spacecraft in the Earth's magnetotail, we have investigated the earthward flow bursts by introducing th...On the basis of the plasma, electric and magnetic fields jointly observed by Cluster and the Double Star TC-1 spacecraft in the Earth's magnetotail, we have investigated the earthward flow bursts by introducing the momentum equation in the X-direction in the ideal conditions of magneto hydrodynamics (MHD). One earthward flow burst with a peak in excess of 500 km/s was selected, when the four spacecraft of Cluster were located around ?16 RE and TC-1 was located around ?10 RE in the X-direction. The inter-spacecraft distances in Y and Z directions were smaller than the statistical spatial scales of the bursty bulk flows. When the Y components of E and ?V×B were compared, there was no clear breakdown of the frozen-in condition during the earthward flow burst. With the measured plasma and magnetic parameters from two spacecraft at different positions in the magnetotail, the X component of the pressure gradient was calculated. Magnetic tension was calculated using the magnetic field measured at four points, which could be compared with the assumed constant in the past research with single satellite. When the pressure gradient and the magnetic tension were put into the MHD momentum equation, some samples of the earthward flow bursts were accelerated and some were decelerated. The braking process of the earthward flow burst was more complicated than what the past results had shown. The accelerated samples accounted for about one third of the whole earthward flow bursts and discontinuously located among the decelerated elements. The original single earthward flow burst event might be split into several short flow bursts when it was moving to the Earth. Our results may partly illustrate that the duration of fast flows during three phases of substorm becomes short near the Earth. The results are consistent with the past results that fast flows intrude to places earthward the typical braking region.展开更多
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
Using Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms(THEMIS) observations from 2007 to 2011 tail seasons, we study the plasma properties of high speed flows(HSFs) and background plasma sheet event...Using Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms(THEMIS) observations from 2007 to 2011 tail seasons, we study the plasma properties of high speed flows(HSFs) and background plasma sheet events(BPSs) in Earth's magnetotail(|Y_(GSM)|<13R_E, |Z_(GSM)|<5R_E, –30R_E<X_(GSM)<–6R_E), and their correlations with solar wind parameters. Statistical results show that the closer the HSFs and BPSs are to the Earth, the hotter they become, and the temperature increase of HSFs is larger than that of BPSs. The density and temperature ratios between HSFs and BPSs are also larger when events are closer to Earth. We also find that the best correlations between the HSFs(BPSs) density and the solar wind density occur when the solar wind density is averaged 2(3.5) hours prior to the onset of HSFs(BPSs). The normalized densities of both HSFs and BPSs are correlated with the interplanetary magnetic field(IMF) θ angles(θ=arctan(B_Z/((B_x^2)+(B_y^2))^(1/2) which are averaged 3 hours before the observation time. Further analysis indicates that both HSFs and BPSs become denser during the northward IMF period.展开更多
We report the observation of mirror mode structures by Cluster spacecraft at around X^-16 RE in the Earth’s magnetotail.The wavelength of the mirror structure is larger than 7000 km,corresponding to tens of ion gyror...We report the observation of mirror mode structures by Cluster spacecraft at around X^-16 RE in the Earth’s magnetotail.The wavelength of the mirror structure is larger than 7000 km,corresponding to tens of ion gyroradii.Features of the mirror structures are similar to those detected in the magnetosheath:the anti-correlation between the magnetic field strength and plasma density,zero phase velocity in the plasma rest frame and linear polarization.The structures were observed in a region bounded by two dipolarizations during a substorm intensification.Thus,the dipolarization process may provide a plasma condition facilitating the growth of the mirror mode structures.Another interesting feature is the electron dynamics within the mirror structures.Thermal electron energy flux has an enhancement at 0°and 180°pitch angles inside the magnetic dips of the first three mirror structures and an enhancement at 90°pitch angle inside the magnetic dip of the last structure.The different electron distribution inside the mirror structures might be a result of different evolution stages of the mirror wave.The last structure may be in the nonlinear stage of the mirror instability,whereas the three others with quasi-sinusoidal waveforms may be in the linear stage.In addition,we found that intense whistler waves were confined within the magnetic dips.We conjecture that whistler waves observed in the first three dips were generated in a remote region,then they were trapped in the mirror mode troughs and transported toward the spacecraft;while the whistler wave detected in the last dip was excited locally by the electron anisotropy instability.展开更多
Using in situ observations from THEMIS A, D and E during the 2008–2011 tail season, we present a statistical study of the evolution of pressure gradients in the near-Earth tail during bursty bulk flow(BBF) convection...Using in situ observations from THEMIS A, D and E during the 2008–2011 tail season, we present a statistical study of the evolution of pressure gradients in the near-Earth tail during bursty bulk flow(BBF) convection.We identified 138 substorm BBFs and 2,197 non-substorm BBFs for this study. We found that both the pressure and the BZcomponent of the magnetic field were enhanced at the arrival of BBFs at the spacecraft locations. We suggest that the increase of BZduring non-substorm BBFs is associated with flux pile-up. However, the much stronger enhancement of BZduring substorm BBFs implies the occurrence of magnetic field dipolarization which is caused by both the flux pile-up process and near-Earth current disruption. Furthermore, a bow-wave-like high pressure appears to be formed at the arrival of substorm BBFs,which is responsible for the formation of region-1-sense FACs. The azimuthal pressure gradient associated with the arrival of substorm BBFs lasts for about 5 min. The enhanced pressure gradient associated with the bow waveis caused by the braking and diversion of the Earthward flow in the inner plasma sheet. The results from this statistical study suggest that the braking and azimuthal diversion of BBFs may commonly create azimuthal pressure gradients, which are related to the formation of the FAC of the substorm current wedge.展开更多
基金Supported in part by the Global COE Program of Nagoya University "Quest for Fundamental Principles in the Universe(QFPU)" from JSPS and MEXT of Japan
文摘Magnetic reconnection is one of the most important,dynamic phenomena in the magnetotail in terms of magnetic field line configuration change and energy release.It is believed to occur in the distant magnetotail mainly during southward interplanetary magnetic field periods and in the near-Earth magnetotail in association with substorms.In the present paper,we discuss several important issues concerning magnetic reconnection in the magnetotail associated with substorms,such as reconnection signatures,location,timing,spatial scale,and behavior,from the macroscopic,observational point of view.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40931054, 41174141 and 40904042)the National Basic Research Program of China ("973" Project)(Grant No. 2011CB811404)+1 种基金Specialized Research Fund for State Key Laboratories (Grant No. KP201104)supported by Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) visiting Professorship for Senior International Scientists (Grant No. 2009S1-54)
文摘On the basis of the plasma, electric and magnetic fields jointly observed by Cluster and the Double Star TC-1 spacecraft in the Earth's magnetotail, we have investigated the earthward flow bursts by introducing the momentum equation in the X-direction in the ideal conditions of magneto hydrodynamics (MHD). One earthward flow burst with a peak in excess of 500 km/s was selected, when the four spacecraft of Cluster were located around ?16 RE and TC-1 was located around ?10 RE in the X-direction. The inter-spacecraft distances in Y and Z directions were smaller than the statistical spatial scales of the bursty bulk flows. When the Y components of E and ?V×B were compared, there was no clear breakdown of the frozen-in condition during the earthward flow burst. With the measured plasma and magnetic parameters from two spacecraft at different positions in the magnetotail, the X component of the pressure gradient was calculated. Magnetic tension was calculated using the magnetic field measured at four points, which could be compared with the assumed constant in the past research with single satellite. When the pressure gradient and the magnetic tension were put into the MHD momentum equation, some samples of the earthward flow bursts were accelerated and some were decelerated. The braking process of the earthward flow burst was more complicated than what the past results had shown. The accelerated samples accounted for about one third of the whole earthward flow bursts and discontinuously located among the decelerated elements. The original single earthward flow burst event might be split into several short flow bursts when it was moving to the Earth. Our results may partly illustrate that the duration of fast flows during three phases of substorm becomes short near the Earth. The results are consistent with the past results that fast flows intrude to places earthward the typical braking region.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.41431071,41574152)the National Basic Research Program of China(Grant No.2011CB811404)the Strategic Priority Research Program on Space Science,the Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant No.XDA04060201)
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.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41322031, 41031065 & 41574157)the Shandong Province Outstanding Young Scientist Award (Grant No. 2013BSE27132)+2 种基金the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (Grant No. 20130131120073)the program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (Grant No. NCET-12-0332)State Key Laboratories of Space Weather
文摘Using Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms(THEMIS) observations from 2007 to 2011 tail seasons, we study the plasma properties of high speed flows(HSFs) and background plasma sheet events(BPSs) in Earth's magnetotail(|Y_(GSM)|<13R_E, |Z_(GSM)|<5R_E, –30R_E<X_(GSM)<–6R_E), and their correlations with solar wind parameters. Statistical results show that the closer the HSFs and BPSs are to the Earth, the hotter they become, and the temperature increase of HSFs is larger than that of BPSs. The density and temperature ratios between HSFs and BPSs are also larger when events are closer to Earth. We also find that the best correlations between the HSFs(BPSs) density and the solar wind density occur when the solar wind density is averaged 2(3.5) hours prior to the onset of HSFs(BPSs). The normalized densities of both HSFs and BPSs are correlated with the interplanetary magnetic field(IMF) θ angles(θ=arctan(B_Z/((B_x^2)+(B_y^2))^(1/2) which are averaged 3 hours before the observation time. Further analysis indicates that both HSFs and BPSs become denser during the northward IMF period.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grants Nos.41174147,41274170,41331070)Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province(Grants No.20122BAB212002)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(Grant No.2012212020206)
文摘We report the observation of mirror mode structures by Cluster spacecraft at around X^-16 RE in the Earth’s magnetotail.The wavelength of the mirror structure is larger than 7000 km,corresponding to tens of ion gyroradii.Features of the mirror structures are similar to those detected in the magnetosheath:the anti-correlation between the magnetic field strength and plasma density,zero phase velocity in the plasma rest frame and linear polarization.The structures were observed in a region bounded by two dipolarizations during a substorm intensification.Thus,the dipolarization process may provide a plasma condition facilitating the growth of the mirror mode structures.Another interesting feature is the electron dynamics within the mirror structures.Thermal electron energy flux has an enhancement at 0°and 180°pitch angles inside the magnetic dips of the first three mirror structures and an enhancement at 90°pitch angle inside the magnetic dip of the last structure.The different electron distribution inside the mirror structures might be a result of different evolution stages of the mirror wave.The last structure may be in the nonlinear stage of the mirror instability,whereas the three others with quasi-sinusoidal waveforms may be in the linear stage.In addition,we found that intense whistler waves were confined within the magnetic dips.We conjecture that whistler waves observed in the first three dips were generated in a remote region,then they were trapped in the mirror mode troughs and transported toward the spacecraft;while the whistler wave detected in the last dip was excited locally by the electron anisotropy instability.
基金supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.41174147,41274170,41331070)China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Funded Project,and the Fundamental Research Fund for theCentral Universities(Grant No.2042014kf0017)
基金supported by the National Basic Research Program of China(2014CB845903,2012CB825604)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(41211120176,41274167,41031065,41374166,41330104,41374171)+2 种基金the National R&D Projectsfor Key Scientific Instruments(ZDYZ2012-1-01)UK Science and Technology Facilities Council grant(ST/L005638/1)at UCL/MSSLChina Postdoctoral Science Foundation(2014M550826)
文摘Using in situ observations from THEMIS A, D and E during the 2008–2011 tail season, we present a statistical study of the evolution of pressure gradients in the near-Earth tail during bursty bulk flow(BBF) convection.We identified 138 substorm BBFs and 2,197 non-substorm BBFs for this study. We found that both the pressure and the BZcomponent of the magnetic field were enhanced at the arrival of BBFs at the spacecraft locations. We suggest that the increase of BZduring non-substorm BBFs is associated with flux pile-up. However, the much stronger enhancement of BZduring substorm BBFs implies the occurrence of magnetic field dipolarization which is caused by both the flux pile-up process and near-Earth current disruption. Furthermore, a bow-wave-like high pressure appears to be formed at the arrival of substorm BBFs,which is responsible for the formation of region-1-sense FACs. The azimuthal pressure gradient associated with the arrival of substorm BBFs lasts for about 5 min. The enhanced pressure gradient associated with the bow waveis caused by the braking and diversion of the Earthward flow in the inner plasma sheet. The results from this statistical study suggest that the braking and azimuthal diversion of BBFs may commonly create azimuthal pressure gradients, which are related to the formation of the FAC of the substorm current wedge.
