Local time extent of magnetopause reconnection X-lines using space–ground coordination
Abstract
Abstract. Magnetic reconnection X-lines can vary considerably in length. At the Earth's magnetopause, the length generally corresponds to the extent in local time. The extent has been probed by multi-spacecraft crossing the magnetopause, but the estimates have large uncertainties because of the assumption of a continuous X-line between spacecraft and the lack of information beyond areas of spacecraft coverage. The extent has also been inferred by radars as fast ionospheric flows moving anti-sunward across the open-closed field line boundary, but whether a particular ionospheric flow results from reconnection needs to be confirmed. To achieve a reliable interpretation, we compare X-line extents probed by multi-spacecraft and radars for three conjunction events. We find that when reconnection is active at only one spacecraft, only the ionosphere conjugate to this spacecraft shows a channel of fast anti-sunward flow. When reconnection is active at two spacecraft and the spacecraft are separated by 10 Re) are possible forms of reconnection at the magnetopause. Interestingly, the extended reconnection develops from a localized patch via spreading across local time. Potential effects of IMF Bx and By on the X-line extent are discussed.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jul 03, 2018
- Source ID
- 10.5194/angeo-2018-63
Entities
People
- Brian M. Walsh
- J. M. Ruohoniemi
- K. A. McWilliams
- Nozomu Nishitani
- Vassilis Angelopoulos
- Ying Zou
- Yukitoshi Nishimura
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- National Science Foundation