Hall effect on magnetic reconnection at the Earth's magnetopause

We analyze in situ observations of magnetic reconnection at the Earth magnetopause to estimate the importance of the Hall current during the merging of interplanetary and magnetospheric magnetic field lines. The reconnection process is studied through numerical simulations, integrating the Hall MHD equations in 2.5 dimensions. A large influence of the Hall effect is found, which can be measured by a significant increase of the reconnection rate.     

IMF北向时磁层顶重联的模拟研究

本文基于自己开发的全球三维磁层模型,模拟研究了IMF(Interplanetary Magnetic Field)北向时磁层顶重联及磁尾结构.结果发现磁层顶附近存在两种典型的重联过程:一是高纬极尖区IMF与地球磁场的重联,这与空间观测证据和前人的模拟结果是一致的;二是重联后一端在太阳风中另一端与地球相连的磁力线在向磁尾运动中,会发生弯曲、拖曳,在磁尾晨昏侧低纬区域可与尾瓣开放磁力线满足重联条件而再次发生重联.我们认为前一重联会使磁尾等离子片产生与IMF时钟角方向相反的旋转;而后者可重新形成闭合磁力线,可能是LLBL(Low Latitude Boundary Layer)形成的重要原因.     

Multi-instrument study of footprints of magnetopause reconnection in the summer ionosphere

Results are presented from a multi-instrument investigation of the signatures of equatorial reconnection in the summer, sunlit ionosphere. Well-established ion dispersion signatures measured during three DMSP satellite passes were used to identify footprints in ionospheric observations made by radio tomography, and both the EISCAT ESR and mainland radars. Under the prevalent conditions of southward IMF with the B_z component increasing in magnitude, the reconnection footprint was seen to move equatorward through the ESR field-of-view. The most striking signature was in the electron temperatures of the F2 region measured by the EISCAT mainland radar that revealed significantly enhanced temperatures with a steep equatorward edge, in general agreement with the leading edge of the ion dispersion. It is suggested that this sharp transition in the electron temperature may be an indicator of the boundary, mapping from the reconnection site, between closed geomagnetic field lines and those opened along which magnetosheath ions precipitate.     

模拟IMF北向且By分量占主导时磁层顶重联

本文基于自己开发的全球三维磁层模型, 模拟研究了IMF(Interplanetary Magnetic Field)北向并且B_y分量较大(时钟角为60°)时磁层顶三维结构及其重联图像. 结果发现, IMF B_y为正时, 在北极隙区附近尾-昏侧存在IMF与地磁场之间稳定持续的重联现象;参与重联的地球磁场既有闭合磁力线也有开放磁力线;IMF在北极隙区与地球闭合磁力重联后一端与南磁极相连的磁力线在尾向运动时还可能与北尾瓣的开放磁力线重联而重新闭合, 这种重联与磁力线循环过程不同于同一条IMF磁力线分别在南北半球与地磁场重联的模型. 南极隙区的重联发生在尾-晨侧, 其动力学过程与北极隙区情形类似. 我们的模拟结果表明, IMF B_y较大时不可能发生IMF同一条磁力线分别在南北极隙区重联的情形, 也不会因此而减少尾瓣的开放磁力线.     

Ionospheric polarization electric field guiding magnetopause reconnection: A conceptual model of throat aurora

Frequently observed throat auroras have been suggested to be correspondent to indentations on the subsolar magnetopause,but how these indentations can be generated is unknown yet.Based on analyzing the detailed observational features of throat aurora,a conceptual model for generation of throat aurora is proposed.This model suggests that precipitation of a north-south aligned stripy diffuse aurora can lead to an ionospheric conductivity enhancement and thus produce a polarization electric field in dusk-to-dawn direction in the ionosphere.After mapping to the magnetosphere along closed field lines,this electric field can guide a magnetopause reconnection to develop inward the magnetosphere and result in a throat aurora.Because this model can comprehensively explain all the observational results that have been presented up to now,we argue that the assumption of ionospheric polarization electric field affecting magnetopause reconnection should be true and be worthy of further investigations.     

An analysis of the accuracy of magnetopause reconnection rate variations deduced from cusp ion dispersion characteristics

We present an analysis of the accuracy of the method introduced by Lockwood et al. (1994) for the determination of the magnetopause reconnection rate from the dispersion of precipitating ions in the ionospheric cusp region. Tests are made by applying the method to synthesised data. The simulated cusp ion precipitation data are produced by an analytic model of the evolution of newly-opened field lines, along which magnetosheath ions are firstly injected across the magnetopause and then dispersed as they propagate into the ionosphere. The rate at which these newly opened field lines are generated by reconnection can be varied. The derived reconnection rate estimates are then compared with the input variation to the model and the accuracy of the method assessed. Results are presented for steady-state reconnection, for continuous reconnection showing a sine-wave variation in rate and for reconnection which only occurs in square wave pulses. It is found that the method always yields the total flux reconnected (per unit length of the open-closed field-line boundary) to within an accuracy of better than 5%, but that pulses tend to be smoothed so that the peak reconnection rate within the pulse is underestimated and the pulse length is overestimated. This smoothing is reduced if the separation between energy channels of the instrument is reduced; however this also acts to increase the experimental uncertainty in the estimates, an effect which can be countered by improving the time resolution of the observations. The limited time resolution of the data is shown to set a minimum reconnection rate below which the method gives spurious short-period oscillations about the true value. Various examples of reconnection rate variations derived from cusp observations are discussed in the light of this analysis.     

Coupling processes at the magnetopause

This review covers several aspects of magnetopause research during the two-year period from mid-1991 to mid-1993. It focusses upon three topics which received renewed attention: the structure of the steady-state magnetopause, the origin of the transient events which are superimposed upon it, and the cause of transient signatures observed by high-latitude dayside ground magnetometers. Case and statistical studies defined the relatively unknown characteristics of the magnetosheath plasma layers lying outside the magnetopause, while theoretical studies provided alternative explanations for the presence of magnetosheath plasma within the LLBL. Evidence was presented for a steady transition from magnetosheath to magnetospheric plasma parameters. Detailed studies described the plasma, energetic particle, and magnetic field characteristics of transient events in the outer dayside magnetosphere, and multipoint studies provided important new information concerning the ionospheric response to sudden changes in solar wind parameters. This review emphasizes the competing explanations which have been advanced to explain these phenomena.     

Rayleigh-Taylor-Kelvin-Helmholtz combined instability at the magnetopause

The magnetopause separates the geomagnetic field from the interplanetary plasma and performs finite motions under the action of the solar wind pressure variable in time. Accelerations originating in this case result in that the necessary condition for the development of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability is formed at quite a definite motion phase. We can anticipate that the instability will develop during compression of the magnetosphere. It should be taken into account that the magnetopause is a potential tangential discontinuity. On the one hand, a plasma flow along the magnetopause results in a decrease in the Rayleigh-Taylor instability threshold. On the other hand, the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability threshold, typical of the tangential discontinuity, also decreases during the magnetosphere compression phase. Thus, if we speak about the magnetopause, it is natural and necessary to jointly consider both types of instability. Main information on the combined Rayleigh-Taylor-Kelvin-Helmholtz instability is presented, the dispersion equation determining the evolution of small perturbations is considered, and the possible geophysical applications to the theory (e.g., penetration of the solar plasma into the magnetosphere, excitation of global Pc5 oscillations) are indicated.     

The normal directions and shape of the magnetopause

The minimum variance and tangential discontinuity analyses are used to find the normal directions of the magnetopause using 550 crossings from ISEE 1 and 2, AMPTE/IRM, and IMP 8 satellites. Then, the average shape of the magnetopause is studied by using two-region fit procedure. These studies show: (i) most of the crossings are reasonably characterized as tangential discontinuity; (ii) there does appear to be east-west and north-south asymmetry in the shape of the magnetopause; (iii) the magnetopause in the equatorial region is swept back from the vacuum location for both northward and southward IMF, which means that the simple single conic section used in previous fits may not be appropriate to the entire shape of the magnetopause, especially at the nightside. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 49374222).     

A magnetopause in the double-pulsar binary system

Francis Graham-Smith and Maura Ann McLaughlin describe the interactions in the first double-pulsar system, which produce a comet-shaped magnetosphere with remarkable similarities to that surrounding the Earth.     

磁层顶压缩事件的磁场分析

向日面磁层顶在平静太阳风条件下,处于10RE（RE为地球半径）左右．但在异常的太阳风条件下,即南向行星际磁场很强和（或）太阳风的动压很大时,会被压缩,甚至到达同步轨道附近．集中分析2001年4月11日的磁暴事件,研究当磁层顶发生强烈压缩以后。在地球空间和地面上产生的磁场影响．磁层顶位形选取Shue（1998）模型计算．当把计算结果与GOESl0卫星的观测数据对比时发现：磁层顶在强的太阳风条件下的确会被压缩到同步轨道以内．Shue（1998）模型的预测基本正确,通常的漏报可能是由于预报的位置误差所致．实际磁层顶电流片的位置和强度与我们假设的理想磁层顶间断面计算结果基本吻合．在分析大磁暴过程时,磁层顶压缩使磁层顶电流对于中低纬度地磁场扰动有突出的贡献,在2001年4月事件中,这个贡献可以大于50nT,占主相的1／6左右．这一贡献可以使Dst指数产生相应的误差．     

Structure of the low-latitude magnetopause: MAGION-4 observations

The aims of this paper are (1) briefly to describe the plasma devices onboard the MAGION-4 satellite, launched on 3 August 1995, of the INTER-BALL project, and (2) to discuss first observations made near the magnetopause region. During the presented boundary crossings the MAGION–4 observed quasi-periodic pulses of magnetosheath-like plasma in a region of low plasma density. This region is located just earthwards of the magnetopause and is populated by a plasma which, except for the density, has the same parameters as in the magnetosheath. Deeper in the magnetosphere, the encounter of a layer of hot electrons and high-energy ions was interpreted as low-latitude boundary layer.     

Specific features of magnetic barrier formation near the magnetopause

The numerical three-dimensional MHD model is used to study the formation of the magnetic barrier in the inner part of the magnetosheath near the magnetopause. The set of the quasistationary solutions for several characteristic directions of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) has been obtained: for northward and southward IMF, for the direction along the Parker helix (at an angle of 45° with respect to the Sun-Earth line), and for the predominantly radial direction (at an angle of 20° with respect to the Sun-Earth line). The mechanism used to take into account the effect of magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause on a flow in the magnetosheath is introduced in the case of southward IMF. The results of the calculations indicate that the magnetic field absolute value in the magnetic barrier reaches its maximal value when IMF is northward. The introduction of magnetic reconnection at southward IMF can result in an insignificant decrease in the field value. However, the model predicts that a decrease in the magnetic field is much more substantial when the IMF direction is close to radial.     

高纬磁层顶位形统计分析

本文收集了1226个来自Cluster、Geotail、GOES、IMP8、Interball、LANL、Polar、TC1、THEMIS和Wind卫星磁层顶穿越事例,并主要利用时间推移使上游行星际磁场clock angle或等离子体变化特征与磁鞘中的相吻合方法为这些数据配对上来自ACE或Wind卫星5 min平均值太阳风数据.通过对这些数据以及网上公布的1482个Hawkeye卫星磁层顶穿越点数据分析研究,发现：（1）高纬磁层顶在极隙区存在内凹结构,其内凹范围比较大;（2）磁层顶内凹位置明显受地磁偶极倾角控制,最内凹点所对应的天顶角和地磁偶极倾角大致呈线性关系,这种关系在南北半球大致呈反对称;（3）磁层顶内凹深度、内凹范围以及内凹中心不变纬度基本不受地磁偶极倾角影响.     

A linear perturbation analysis of magnetopause motion in the Newton-Busemann limit

The response of the magnetopause surface to time-varying solar wind dynamic pressure is examined. We argue that to a first approximation the magnetopause surface may be considered as analogous to an elastic membrane. Upon displacement from equilibrium resulting from a change in applied external pressure, it moves to a new equilibrium under the equation of motion of a forced, damped, simple harmonic oscillator. We derive this equation of motion by linearising for small perturbations the momentum equation for flow past a nonrigid ellipsoidal body in the Newton-Busemann limit. Though our approach is only an approximation to the real dynamics of the magnetopause boundary, it serves to demonstrate the importance of inertia in the system response. It allows us to estimate the natural eigenperiod of magnetopause oscillation as typically around 7 min, the precise value depending on solar wind conditions. However, the magnetopause eigenoscillation is furthermore found to be strongly damped, regardless of solar wind conditions. One consequence of these properties is that short-period fluctuations in the solar wind dynamic pressure elicit a suppressed magnetospheric response. We outline other theoretical expectations by which our model may be tested against observation, and discuss the implications of our findings for current interpretations of spacecraft observations made in the dynamic magnetopause environment.     

磁层顶边界层剪切流引起的MHD波模转化

采用非本征模方法（non-modal analysis）研究了磁层顶边界层中剪切流导致的MHD波模转化及其与背景流场的能量交换过程.发现在分别代表磁层顶内、外边界层及过渡区的均匀剪切流场中,初始设定的Alfvén波扰动可部分转化为快、慢磁声波.而且,在不同区域,根据等离子体参数的不同,发生的波模转化过程也不相同.在外边界,Alfvén波主要转化为慢磁声波;在内边界,Alfvén波则主要转化为快磁声波;而在二者之间的过渡区中,Alfvén波可同时转化为两种类型的磁声波.我们还发现,含有较强快波分量的扰动可从磁层顶剪切流场中获得能量而得到线性放大.上述物理过程可能对解释磁鞘至磁层的能量及动量异常输运现象有所帮助.     

The ionospheric footprint of antiparallel merging regions on the dayside magnetopause

The antiparallel merging hypothesis states that reconnection takes place on the dayside magnetopause where the solar and geomagnetic fields are oppositely directed. With this criterion, we have mapped the predicted merging regions to the ionosphere using the Tsyganenko 96 magnetic field model, distinguishing between regions of sub-Alfvénic and super-Alfvénic magnetosheath flow, and identifying the day-night terminator. We present the resulting shape, width and latitude of the ionospheric dayside merging regions in both hemispheres, showing their dependence on the Earths dipole tilt. The resulting seasonal variation of the longitudinal width is consistent with the conjugate electric fields in the northern and southern cusps, as measured by the SuperDARN HF radars, for example. We also find a seasonal shift in latitude similar to that observed in satellite cusp data.     

Small scale observation of magnetopause motion: preliminary results of the INTERBALL project

Two satellites of the INTERBALL project were launched on 3 August 1995. The main goals of the present paper are (1) to give a brief information about the VDP plasma device onboard the INTERBALL-1 satellite, (2) to present the Faradays cup data taken in different magneto spheric regions and (3) to expose first results of the two satellite measurements of the magnetopause motion. The presented data illustrate magnetopause crossings as seen by two satellites when separated by about 1000 km. This separation combined with the Faradays cup time resolution allows to estimate the velocity of the magnetopause and to reconstruct a possible structure of the boundary. Simultaneous measurement of the magnetic field supports the interpretation of the observed ion fluxes as a signature of the wavy motion of the boundary.     

电离层电导对地球磁层顶和舷激波尺度的影响

本文在如下假定下分析电离层电导对地球磁层顶和舷激波尺度的影响：（1）对电离层采用球壳近似,Pedersen电导ΣP均匀,Hall电导为零;（2）地磁偶极矩处于正南方向,行星际磁场（IMF）只有南向分量（BzBz和ΣP,通过三维全球MHD模拟获得系统的准定态.结果表明,在大约1～5 S范围内,ΣP值显著影响磁层顶和舷激波的尺度,而在该范围之外则几乎没有影响.随着ΣP的增加,磁层顶和舷激波整体向外扩张,前者的扩张程度低于后者,以至磁鞘区的范围扩大.磁层顶的侧翼点的位置随ΣP的变化与Bz的幅度有关：在弱南向IMF情况下磁层顶的侧翼点随ΣP的增加向内移动,而在强南向IMF情况下则向外移动.上述结果表明,在构建磁层顶和舷激波的经验模型时,有必要计入电离层电导的影响.