Dipolarization fronts are important structures in magnetotail dynamics. They are the fronts of the so-called bursty bulk flows, generated by magnetic reconnection in the magnetotail. These fronts separate two different kinds of plasma regimes upstream and downstream. They are known to be sources of strong diamagnetic currents, accelerators of particles and act as generators/loads with respect to the currents and the motional electric field. These fronts have not only been found in the Earth’s magnetotail but also in the tails of Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn. In this session we want to discuss all aspects of dipolarization fronts in observations, theory and numerical simulations.
Sollicited Speakers:
Laurianne Palin
Jonathan Eastwood