NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Interpretation of high-speed flows in the plasma sheetPursuing an idea suggested by Pontius and Wolf (1990), we propose that the `bursty bulk flows' observed by Baumjohann et al. (1990) and Angelopoulos et al. (1992) are `bubbles' in the Earth's plasma sheet. Specifically, they are flux tubes that have lower values of pV(exp 5/3) than their neighbors, where p is the thermal pressure of the particles and V is the volume of a tube containing one unit of magnetic flux. Whether they are created by reconnection or some other mechanism, the bubbles are propelled earthward by a magnetic buoyancy force, which is related to the interchange instability. Most of the major observed characteristics of the bursty bulk flows can be interpreted naturally in terms of the bubble picture. We propose a new `stratified fluid' picture of the plasma sheet, based on the idea that bubbles constitute the crucial transport mechanism. Results from simple mathematical models of plasma sheet transport support the idea that bubbles can resolve the pressure balance inconsistency, particularly in cases where plasma sheet ions are lost by gradient/curvature drift out the sides of the tail or bubbles are generated by reconnection in the middle of plasma sheet.
Document ID
19950046666
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Chen, C. X.
(Rice Univ. Houston, TX, United States)
Wolf, R. A.
(Rice Univ. Houston, TX, United States)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
December 1, 1993
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volume: 98
Issue: A12
ISSN: 0148-0227
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
95A78265
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: F19628-91-K-0025
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF ATM-91-22310
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-2826
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available