NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Electron Energization and Mixing Observed by MMS in the Vicinity of an Electron Diffusion Region During Magnetopause ReconnectionMeasurements from the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission are reported to show distinct features of electron energization and mixing in the diffusion region of the terrestrial magnetopause reconnection. At the ion jet and magnetic field reversals, distribution functions exhibiting signatures of accelerated meandering electrons are observed at an electron out-of-plane flow peak. The meandering signatures manifested as triangular and crescent structures are established features of the electron diffusion region (EDR). Effects of meandering electrons on the electric field normal to the reconnection layer are detected. Parallel acceleration and mixing of the inflowing electrons with exhaust electrons shape the exhaust flow pattern. In the EDR vicinity, the measured distribution functions indicate that locally, the electron energization and mixing physics is captured by two-dimensional reconnection, yet to account for the simultaneous four-point measurements, translational invariant in the third dimension must be violated on the ion-skin-depth scale.
Document ID
20170002780
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Chen, Li-Jen
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Hesse, Michael
(Science Collaborator Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Wang, Shan
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Gershman, Daniel
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Ergun, Robert
(Colorado Univ. Boulder, CO, United States)
Pollock, Craig
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Torbert, Roy
(New Hampshire Univ. Durham, NH, United States)
Bessho, Naoki
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Daughton, William
(Los Alamos National Lab. NM, United States)
Dorelli, John
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Giles, Barbara
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Moore, Thomas
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Date Acquired
March 31, 2017
Publication Date
June 28, 2016
Publication Information
Publication: Geophysical Research Letters
Publisher: American Geophysical Union
Volume: 43
Issue: 12
ISSN: 0094-8276
Subject Category
General
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN40924
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF AGS-1202537
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF AGS-1543598
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF AGS-1552142
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNG11PL02A
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

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