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Density-transition scale at quasiperpendicular collisionless shocks.

S D Bale1, F S Mozer, T S Horbury

  • 1Space Sciences Laboratory and Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA. bale@ssl.berkeley.edu

Physical Review Letters
|February 3, 2004
PubMed
Summary
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The terrestrial bow shock

Area of Science:

  • Space Physics
  • Plasma Physics
  • Shock Physics

Background:

  • The terrestrial bow shock is a critical boundary layer in Earth's magnetosphere.
  • Understanding its structure, particularly density transitions, is crucial for space weather and plasma dynamics.
  • Previous studies lacked detailed measurements of the macroscopic density transition scale.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the macroscopic electron plasma density transition scale at quasiperpendicular terrestrial bow shock crossings.
  • To investigate the dependence of this scale on Mach number.
  • To compare observed scales with theoretical plasma and gyroradius scales.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized spacecraft floating potential measurements from the four Cluster spacecraft as a proxy for electron plasma density.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Performed timing analysis to determine shock speeds and normals.
  • Converted temporal density measurements to spatial scales using shock speed.
  • Fitted hyperbolic tangent functions to density transitions.

    • Main Results:

    • Analyzed 98 crossings of the quasiperpendicular terrestrial bow shock.
    • At low Mach numbers, the density transition scale is consistent with both ion inertial and convected gyroradii.
    • At higher Mach numbers (M >= 4-5), the convected gyroradius becomes the preferred scale, approximately 0.4 times the shock speed divided by the ion cyclotron frequency.

    Conclusions:

    • The macroscopic density transition scale at the terrestrial bow shock is dependent on Mach number.
    • Convected gyroradii are a key factor in determining the shock transition scale at higher Mach numbers.
    • Findings provide insights into plasma behavior and energy dissipation mechanisms at collisionless shocks.