Local kinetic processes determining macroscopic properties of interlinked magnetic flux tubes
- 1Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, United States of America (kyoung-joo.hwang@nasa.gov, JBurch@swri.edu, jinsfra@gmail.com, kyunghwan.dokgo@swri.org, stephen.fuselier@swri.org)
- 2Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA (ctrussel@igpp.ucla.edu, strangeway@igpp.ucla.edu)
- 3University of Southampton, Southampton, UK (R.C.Fear@soton.ac.uk)
- 4Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA (petrinec@lmsal.com)
- 5NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA (david.g.sibeck@nasa.gov, barbara.giles@nasa.gov, daniel.j.gershman@nasa.gov)
- 6Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Sagamihara, Japan (hase@stp.isas.jaxa.jp)
- 7School of Science and Environment, Beihang University, Beijing, China (huishanf@gmail.com)
- 8Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA (oieroset@berkeley.edu)
- 9European Space Agency, Netherland (philippe.escoubet@esa.int)
- 10Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Uppsala, Sweden (yuri@irfu.se, dgraham@irfu.se)
- 11Denali Scientific, LLC, Fairbanks, AK, USA (craig@denaliscientific.org)
- 12Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA (bob.ergun@lasp.colorado.edu)
- *A full list of authors appears at the end of the abstract
One of the most important transient phenomena affecting the solar wind-Earth’s magnetosphere coupling is non-steady dayside magnetic reconnection, observationally evidenced by a transient structure consisting of a bipolar magnetic-field component normal to the magnetopause. This signature, termed a flux-transfer-event (FTE), has been recently found to often consist of two interlinked flux tubes. The recent observations, particularly from the MMS spacecraft, showed a reconnecting current sheet between the interlaced flux tubes. However, local kinetic processes between the flux tubes have not been understood in the context of the broader FTE structure and evolution. An FTE observed by MMS on 18 December, 2017 comprised two flux tubes of different topology. One includes field lines with their ends connected to the northern and southern hemispheres while the other includes field lines that are connected to the magnetosheath (and ultimately the Sun). Evidence for reconnection occurring at the interface of the two flux tubes indicates how interacting flux tubes evolve into a flux rope having helical magnetic topology connecting either both to the Earth or being completely open. This study proposes a new aspect of how micro-to-meso-scale dynamics occurring within FTEs determines the macroscale characteristics and evolution of the structures.
Above authors together with Roy Torbert (roy.torbert@unh.edu)13 and Jef Broll (jbroll@bu.edu)14
How to cite: Hwang, K., Burch, J., Russell, C., Choi, E., Dokgo, K., Fear, R., Fuselier, S., Petrinec, S., Sibeck, D., Hasegawa, H., Fu, H., Øieroset, M., Escoubet, P., Giles, B., Strangeway, R., Khotyaintsev, Y., Graham, D., Gershman, D., Pollock, C., and Ergun, R. and the MMS science working group: Local kinetic processes determining macroscopic properties of interlinked magnetic flux tubes, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-3699, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-3699, 2020
