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Transient, small-scale field-aligned currents in the plasma sheet boundary layer during storm time substorms
R Nakamura1, V A Sergeev2, W Baumjohann1
1Space Research Institute Austrian Academy of Sciences Graz Austria.
Geophysical Research Letters
|November 22, 2016
Summary
Magnetotail reconnection generates small-scale field-aligned currents within plasma sheet boundary layer flux tubes. These currents, below the ion scale, coincide with upward electron beams, revealing multiscale process coupling during substorms.
Area of Science:
- Space Physics
- Plasma Physics
- Magnetospheric Physics
Background:
- The plasma sheet boundary layer (PSBL) is a critical region for understanding energy transfer in Earth's magnetosphere.
- Magnetotail reconnection is a primary driver of substorm dynamics and associated phenomena.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate small-scale field-aligned currents within the PSBL during substorm events.
- To characterize the properties and origins of these currents and associated electron beams.
Main Methods:
- Utilized in-situ observations from the four Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft.
- Analyzed field-aligned current densities and electron beam characteristics near the PSBL separatrix region.
Main Results:
- Resolved short-lived, intense field-aligned current sheets with thicknesses below the ion scale.
- Observed these currents on flux tubes moving equatorward/earthward during plasma sheet expansion.
- Found coincident upward field-aligned electron beams with energies of a few hundred eV.
Conclusions:
- These findings highlight the coupling of multiscale processes in the PSBL.
- The observed phenomena are a consequence of magnetotail reconnection and associated jet or beam disturbances.
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