Geophysical Research Letters (Feb 2019)
Reconnection With Magnetic Flux Pileup at the Interface of Converging Jets at the Magnetopause
- M. Øieroset,
- T. D. Phan,
- J. F. Drake,
- J. P. Eastwood,
- S. A. Fuselier,
- R. J. Strangeway,
- C. Haggerty,
- M. A. Shay,
- M. Oka,
- S. Wang,
- L.‐J. Chen,
- I. Kacem,
- B. Lavraud,
- V. Angelopoulos,
- J. L. Burch,
- R. B. Torbert,
- R. E. Ergun,
- Y. Khotyaintsev,
- P. A. Lindqvist,
- D. J. Gershman,
- B. L. Giles,
- C. Pollock,
- T. E. Moore,
- C. T. Russell,
- Y. Saito,
- L. A. Avanov,
- W. Paterson
Affiliations
- M. Øieroset
- Space Sciences Laboratory University of California Berkeley CA USA
- T. D. Phan
- Space Sciences Laboratory University of California Berkeley CA USA
- J. F. Drake
- Department of Physics and the Institute for Physical Science and Technology University of Maryland College Park MD USA
- J. P. Eastwood
- The Blackett Laboratory Imperial College London London UK
- S. A. Fuselier
- Southwest Research Institute San Antonio TX USA
- R. J. Strangeway
- Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences University of California Los Angeles CA USA
- C. Haggerty
- Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Delaware Newark DE USA
- M. A. Shay
- Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Delaware Newark DE USA
- M. Oka
- Space Sciences Laboratory University of California Berkeley CA USA
- S. Wang
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt MD USA
- L.‐J. Chen
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt MD USA
- I. Kacem
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, CNRS, UPS, CNES Université de Toulouse Toulouse France
- B. Lavraud
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, CNRS, UPS, CNES Université de Toulouse Toulouse France
- V. Angelopoulos
- Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences University of California Los Angeles CA USA
- J. L. Burch
- Southwest Research Institute San Antonio TX USA
- R. B. Torbert
- Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space University of New Hampshire Durham NH USA
- R. E. Ergun
- LASP University of Colorado Boulder Boulder CO USA
- Y. Khotyaintsev
- Swedish Institute of Space Physics Uppsala Sweden
- P. A. Lindqvist
- Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm Sweden
- D. J. Gershman
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt MD USA
- B. L. Giles
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt MD USA
- C. Pollock
- Denali Scientific Healy AK USA
- T. E. Moore
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt MD USA
- C. T. Russell
- Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences University of California Los Angeles CA USA
- Y. Saito
- ISAS/JAXA Sagamihara Japan
- L. A. Avanov
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt MD USA
- W. Paterson
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt MD USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL080994
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 46,
no. 4
pp. 1937 – 1946
Abstract
Abstract We report Magnetospheric Multiscale observations of reconnection in a thin current sheet at the interface of interlinked flux tubes carried by converging reconnection jets at Earth's magnetopause. The ion skin depth‐scale width of the interface current sheet and the non‐frozen‐in ions indicate that Magnetospheric Multiscale crossed the reconnection layer near the X‐line, through the ion diffusion region. Significant pileup of the reconnecting component of the magnetic field in this and three other events on approach to the interface current sheet was accompanied by an increase in magnetic shear and decrease in Δβ, leading to conditions favorable for reconnection at the interface current sheet. The pileup also led to enhanced available magnetic energy per particle and strong electron heating. The observations shed light on the evolution and energy release in 3‐D systems with multiple reconnection sites.
