Evidence for magnetic field reconnection at the earth's magnetopause

Eleven Northern Hemisphere crossings of the dayside magnetopause by the ISEE spacecraft are examined to test the hypothesis that the large plasma flow speeds observed in the magnetopause and boundary layer are the result of the plasma acceleration intrinsic to the magnetic field reconnection process. In several cases energetic magnetospheric particles with the proper flow anisotropy, and in one case, reflected magnetosheath particles, were observed outside the magnetopause but adjacent to it. All results support the reconnection hypothesis. The energetic particles were also used to identify the outer separatrix surface, in one case of which is was possible to conclude from its location relative to the magnetopause that the reconnection site was in the vicinity of the equatorial plane rather than in the cusp. The electric field tangential to the magnetopause is inferred to be in the 0.4-2.8 mV/m range.