DOI

  • V. Sergeev
  • V. Semenov
  • M. Kubyshkina
  • V. Ivanova
  • W. Baumjohann
  • R. Nakamura
  • T. Penz
  • A. Runov
  • T. L. Zhang
  • K. H. Glassmeier
  • V. Angelopoulos
  • H. Frey
  • J. A. Sauvaud
  • P. Daly
  • J. B. Cao
  • H. Singer
  • E. Lucek

We report strong repeated magnetic reconnection pulses that occurred deep inside closed plasma sheet flux tubes at r ≤ 14Re. They have been observed with a fortuitous spacecraft constellation during three consecutive turbulent magnetic dipolarizations, accompanied by localized auroral brightenings near the equatorward edge of a wide auroral oval. The reconnection separatrix was mapped to ∼64° CGLat in the ionosphere, where a very energetic and narrow energy-dispersed ion injection with unusually steep dispersion slope was observed. Reconstruction of the reconnection rate from magnetic waveforms at Cluster provided a reconnection pulse duration (∼1 min) and peak strength (ER ∼ 8 mV/m) consistent with direct observations in the reconnection outflow region. The magnetic activity was rather weak, although the concurrent solar wind flow pressure was above the norm. We suggest that near-Earth reconnection events may be a phenomenon more frequent than generally thought. We also confirm that reconnection and the growth of strong turbulence in the near tail are strongly coupled together in near-Earth reconnection events.

Язык оригиналаанглийский
Номер статьиL02103
ЖурналGeophysical Research Letters
Том34
Номер выпуска2
DOI
СостояниеОпубликовано - 28 янв 2007

    Предметные области Scopus

  • Геофизика
  • Планетоведение и науки о земле (все)

ID: 18137491