Magnetic Flux Transport Identification of Active Reconnection: MMS Observations in the Earth’s Magnetosphere
- 1Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA (yi.qi@lasp.colorado.edu)
- 2Department of Physics and Astronomy, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
- 3Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Magnetic reconnection plays an important role in converting energy while modifying the field topology. This process takes place under various plasma conditions during which the transport of magnetic flux is intrinsic. Identifying active magnetic reconnection sites with in-situ observations is challenging. A new technique, Magnetic Flux Transport (MFT) analysis, has been developed recently and proven in numerical simulation for identifying active reconnection efficiently and accurately. In this study we examine the MFT process in 37 previously reported electron diffusion region (EDR)/reconnection-line crossing events at the dayside magnetopause, in the magnetotail and magnetosheath using Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) measurements. The co-existing inward and outward MFT flow at the X-point provides a signature that magnetic field lines become disconnected and reconnected. The application of MFT analysis to in-situ observations demonstrates that MFT can successfully identify active reconnection sites under symmetric, asymmetric, and turbulent upstream conditions, providing a also higher rate of successful identification than plasma outflow jets alone.
How to cite: Qi, Y., Li, T. C., Russell, C., Ergun, R., Jia, Y., and Hubbert, M.: Magnetic Flux Transport Identification of Active Reconnection: MMS Observations in the Earth’s Magnetosphere, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-3262, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-3262, 2022.
