Dynamics of the plasma sheet in the near-Earth magnetotail by the impact of an interplanetary shock

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hee-Eun Kim ◽  
Ensang Lee
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Sheet ◽  
Interplanetary Shock ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Magnetospheric Response to Solar Wind Forcing: ULF Wave – Particle Interaction Perspective

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiugang Zong
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Radiation Belt ◽  
Ring Current ◽  
Dynamic Pressure ◽  
Plasma Heating ◽  
Interplanetary Shock ◽  
Wind Forcing ◽  
Ulf Waves ◽  
Radiation Belt Electrons ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Solar wind forcing, e.g. interplanetary shock and/or solar wind dynamic pressure pulses impact on the Earth’s magnetosphere manifests many fundamental important space physics phenomena including producing electromagnetic waves, plasma heating and energetic particle acceleration. This paper summarizes our present understanding of the magnetospheric response to solar wind forcing in the aspects of radiation belt electrons, ring current ions and plasmaspheric plasma physics based on in situ spacecraft measurements, ground-based magnetometer data, MHD and kinetic simulations. Magnetosphere response to solar wind forcing, is not just a “one-kick” scenario. It is found that after the impact of solar wind forcing on the Earth’s magnetosphere, plasma heating and energetic particle acceleration started nearly immediately and could last for a few hours. Even a small dynamic pressure change of interplanetary shock or solar wind pressure pulse can play a non-negligible role in magnetospheric physics. The impact leads to generate series kind of waves including poloidal mode ultra-low frequency (ULF) waves. The fast acceleration of energetic electrons in the radiation belt and energetic ions in the ring current region response to the impact usually contains two contributing steps: (1) the initial adiabatic acceleration due to the magnetospheric compression; (2) followed by the wave-particle resonant acceleration dominated by global or localized poloidal ULF waves excited at various L-shells. Generalized theory of drift and drift-bounce resonance with growth or decay localized ULF waves has been developed to explain in situ spacecraft observations. The wave related observational features like distorted energy spectrum, boomerang and fishbone pitch angle distributions of radiation belt electrons, ring current ions and plasmaspheric plasma can be explained in the frame work of this generalized theory. It is worthy to point out here that poloidal ULF waves are much more efficient to accelerate and modulate electrons (fundamental mode) in the radiation belt and charged ions (second harmonic) in the ring current region. The results presented in this paper can be widely used in solar wind interacting with other planets such as Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, and other astrophysical objects with magnetic fields.

Observation of an Extremely Large-Density Heliospheric Plasma Sheet Compressed by an Interplanetary Shock at 1 AU

2017 ◽  
pp. 597-606
Author(s):  
Chin-Chun Wu ◽  
Kan Liou ◽  
R. P. Lepping ◽  
Angelos Vourlidas ◽  
Simon Plunkett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Sheet ◽  
Interplanetary Shock ◽  
Large Density

The asymmetric geospace response to rapid changes in solar wind pressure

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Madelaire ◽  
Karl Laundal ◽  
Jone Reistad ◽  
Spencer Hatch ◽  
Anders Ohma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Dynamic Pressure ◽  
Interplanetary Shock ◽  
Wind Pressure ◽  
Field Orientation ◽  
Superposed Epoch Analysis ◽  
Rapid Changes ◽  
Solar Wind Structure ◽  
Solar Wind Pressure ◽  
The Impact

<p>The geospace response to rapid changes in solar wind pressure results in a perturbation of the magnetospheric-ionospheric system. Ground magnetometer stations located at polar latitudes have long been known to measure a sudden impulse only minutes after a solar wind structure reaches the magnetopause.<br>Here a list of events associated with a step-like feature in the solar wind dynamic pressure between 1994 and 2020 is compiled based on in situ observations from ACE and Wind. Arrival time estimates are calculated using a simple propagation method and validated with a correlation analysis using SYM-H from low/mid latitude stations. A superposed epoch analysis is carried out to investigate the impact of season, interplanetary magnetic field orientation and other attributes pertaining to the interplanetary shock. All available ground magnetometer stations in SuperMAG, during each event, are used allowing for global coverage. <br>Global data coverage is important for this kind of comparative analysis as it is needed to determine changes in the systems response due to e.g. season, which might lead to an improved understanding of the magnetospheric-ionospheric-thermospheric coupling.</p>

Proton and electron fluxes in the plasma sheet transition region and their dependence on the solar wind parameters

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stepanov Nikita ◽  
Viktor Sergeev ◽  
Dmitry Sormakov ◽  
Stepan Dubyagin ◽  
Andrey Runov
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Transition Region ◽  
Plasma Sheet ◽  
Time Delays ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Solar Wind Parameter ◽  
Central Plasma ◽  
High Energy Tail ◽  
Solar Wind Parameters ◽  
The Impact

<p>Proton and electron spectra in the plasma sheet usually consist of spectral core and high energy tail. These two populations are formed by different processes, driven by the various combinations of the solar wind parameters.These processes include different time delays and may act differently on protons or electrons. In this work we evaluate empirically the magnitude and the time delay of the impact of different solar wind parameter combinations on the protons and electrons with energies (30-300 keV) and reveal the mechanisms behind these impacts. To do this we build a model of the fluxes at different energy channels in the transition region (nightside central plasma sheet between 6 and 15 Re) for the THEMIS spacecraft observations in 2007-2018. We use normalized values of solar wind parameter combinations (incl. speed, density, pressure, electric field, etc) as inputs of the model, with regression coefficients indicating their impact magnitudes. We investigate different time delays up to 16 hours. The model obtained shows that protons and electrons are controlled differently by solar wind parameters: dynamic pressure is important for protons, whereas solar wind speed and VBs are important for electrons. Larger time delays are required to describe higher energy electron fluxes.</p>

scholarly journals The Impact of Turbulence on Physics of the Geomagnetic Tail

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizaveta E. Antonova ◽  
Marina V. Stepanova
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Plasma Sheet ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Turbulent Transport ◽  
Turbulent Wake ◽  
Plasma Transport ◽  
Turbulent Fluctuations ◽  
Vast Amount ◽  
Geomagnetic Tail ◽  
The Impact

There is a vast amount of evidence that suggests that the geomagnetic tail is like a turbulent wake behind an obstacle. Large-scale vortices in the wake are able to generate turbulent transport that takes place both along the plasma sheet, in the X and Y directions, and across the plasma sheet, in the Z direction. Thus, turbulent fluctuations in all directions should be taken into consideration when analyzing plasma transport in the plasma sheet, and stability of the plasma sheet configurations. In this review, we summarize and discuss the main results of large and middle scale magnetospheric turbulence yielded by data analysis and modeling. We also identify changes in the description of the magnetospheric dynamics connected with the existence of turbulent fluctuations in the tail.

Multi-point Observations of Sudden Impulses and Implications for Signal Travel Time in the Magnetosphere

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin Flores ◽  
Peter Chi
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Travel Time ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Inhomogeneous Plasma ◽  
Interplanetary Shock ◽  
Mhd Waves ◽  
Propagation Time ◽  
Impulse Propagation ◽  
Dayside Magnetopause ◽  
The Impact

<p>The Earth’s magnetosphere occasionally experiences sudden movements from localized sources. For example, the impact of the interplanetary shock on the magnetosphere starts from a localized region on the dayside magnetopause, where the perturbations rapidly propagate inside the magnetosphere as the pressure front moves farther away from the Sun. The impulses generated from these sources propagate through the inhomogeneous plasma and can be detected in many corners of the magnetosphere. These impulses often mark the beginning of large-scale reconfigurations in the magnetosphere and the ionosphere, such as magnetic/ionospheric storms and substorms. The propagation of these impulses, such as that through MHD waves, is fast but not instantaneous. The propagation paths in the highly inhomogeneous magnetosphere may not be straightforward. Nonetheless, past studies have demonstrated that the impulse propagation in the dayside magnetosphere can be characterized by the Tamao model.</p><p>In this study, we examine the signatures of sudden impulses in the data from a network of spacecraft in the magnetosphere, including THEMIS, Van Allen Probes, MMS, Geotail, and GOES. The ACE and Wind data are also used for solar wind conditions. Observations from Polar, FAST, GOES, Cluster, Swarm, IMP-8, and ground-based magnetometers are also examined whenever they are available. The observations of impulse propagation time will be compared against the modeled Tamao travel time to understand how much the two agree with each other and how the comparison varies with the properties of the solar wind discontinuity.</p>

Responses of properties in the plasma sheet and at the geosynchronous orbit to interplanetary shock

2009 ◽  
Vol 54 (18) ◽  
pp. 3308-3317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Yao ◽  
ZhenXing Liu ◽  
PingBing Zuo ◽  
LingQian Zhang ◽  
SuPing Duan
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Sheet ◽  
Interplanetary Shock ◽  
Geosynchronous Orbit

Observation of an Extremely Large-Density Heliospheric Plasma Sheet Compressed by an Interplanetary Shock at 1 AU

Solar Physics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 292 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chin-Chun Wu ◽  
Kan Liou ◽  
R. P. Lepping ◽  
Angelos Vourlidas ◽  
Simon Plunkett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Sheet ◽  
Interplanetary Shock ◽  
Large Density

scholarly journals Influence of MHD Turbulence on Ion Kappa Distributions in the Earth's Plasma Sheet as a Function of Plasma β Parameter

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. V. Eyelade ◽  
C. M. Espinoza ◽  
M. Stepanova ◽  
E. E. Antonova ◽  
I. L. Ovchinnikov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Sheet ◽  
Diffusion Coefficients ◽  
Time Windows ◽  
Turbulent Transport ◽  
Eddy Diffusion ◽  
Distribution Functions ◽  
Laminar Flows ◽  
Main Peak ◽  
Mhd Turbulence ◽  
The Impact

The possible influence of MHD turbulence on the energy distributions of ions in the Earth's plasma sheet was studied using data taken by the THEMIS satellites. Turbulence levels were traced using eddy diffusion coefficients (D), of which we measured one for each Geocentric Solar Magnetospheric (GSM) coordinates every 12 min. Ion fluxes between 1.75 and 210.5 keV during the same time windows that correspond to mainly suprathermal populations were fitted to Kappa distribution functions, which approximate a Maxwellian distribution when the κ-index (κ) is large. We found that the distribution of the eddy diffusion coefficients is bimodal, independently of both the eddy diffusion component and the plasma beta (β) parameter, which is defined as the ratio between plasma and magnetic pressures. The main peak corresponds to turbulent plasma flows with D > 103 km2 s−1. In such cases, the impact of turbulence on the κ index depends on the value of β and also on the direction of the turbulent transport. For eddy diffusion perpendicular to the neutral sheet, the values of κ decrease as Dzz increases for β < 2; while for higher values of β, κ increases with Dzz. For the other two directions, the values of κ decrease as D increases. This last tendency is stronger for β ~ 1 but almost null for β ~ 10. The secondary peak in the distribution of D values might represent quasi-laminar flows forming part of very large vortices, correct detection and description of which is beyond the scope of this study.

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