NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Penetration of Magnetosheath Plasma into Dayside Magnetosphere: 1. Density, Velocity, and RotationIn this study, we examine a large number of plasma structures (filaments), observed with the Cluster spacecraft during 2 years (2007-2008) in the dayside magnetosphere but consisting of magnetosheath plasma. To reduce the effects observed in the cusp regions and on magnetosphere flanks, we consider these events predominantly inside the narrow cone less than 30 about the subsolar point. Two important features of these filaments are (i) their stable antisunward (earthward) motion inside the magnetosphere, whereas the ambient magnetospheric plasma moves usually in the opposite direction (sunward), and (ii) between these filaments and the magnetopause, there is a region of magnetospheric plasma, which separates these filaments from the magnetosheath. The stable earthward motion of these magnetopause show the possible disconnection of these filaments from the magnetosheath, as suggested earlier by many researchers. The results also show that these events cannot be a result of back-and-forth motions of magnetopause position or surface waves propagating on the magnetopause. Another important feature of these filaments is their rotation about the filament axis, which might be a result of their passage through the velocity shear on magnetopause boundary. After crossing the velocity shear, the filaments get a rotational velocity, which has opposite directions in the noon-dusk and noon-dawn sectors. This rotation velocity may be an important factor, supporting the stability of these filaments and providing their motion into the magnetosphere.
Document ID
20170002753
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Lyatsky, Wladislaw
(Catholic Univ. of America Washington, DC, United States)
Pollock, Craig
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Goldstein, Melvyn L.
(Maryland Univ. Baltimore County Baltimore, MD, United States)
Lyatsky, Sonya
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Avanov, Levon Albert
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
March 31, 2017
Publication Date
August 22, 2016
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Publisher: American Geophysical Union
Volume: 121
Issue: 8
ISSN: 2169-9402
e-ISSN: 2169-9402
Subject Category
Plasma Physics
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN40892
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNG11PL02A
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNG11PL10A
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

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