Responses of properties in the plasma sheet and at the geosynchronous orbit to interplanetary shock

On July 22, 2004, the WIND spacecraft detected a typical interplanetary shock. There was sustaining weak southward magnetic field in the preshock region and the southward field was suddenly enhanced across the shock front （i.e., southward turning）. When the shock impinged on the magnetosphere, the magnetospheric plasma convection was abruptly enhanced in the central plasma sheet, which was directly observed by both the TC-1 and Cluster spacecraft located in different regions. Simultaneously, the Cluster spacecraft observed that the dawn-to-dusk electric field was abruptly enhanced. The variations of the magnetic field observed by TC-1, Cluster, GOES-10 and GOES-12 that were distributed in different regions in the plasma sheet and at the geosynchronous orbit are obviously distinct. TC-1 observations showed that the magnetic intensity kept almost unchanged and the elevation angle decreased, but the Cluster spacecraft, which was also in the plasma sheet and was further from the equator, observed that the magnetic field was obviously enhanced. Simultaneously, GOES-12 located near the midnight observed that the magnetic intensity sharply increased and the elevation angle decreased, but GOES-10 located in the dawn side observed that the magnetic field was merely compressed with its three components all sharply increasing. Furthermore, the energetic proton and electron fluxes at nearly all channels observed by five LANL satellites located at different magnetic local times （MLTs） all showed impulsive enhancements due to the compression of the shock. The responses of the energetic particles were much evident on the dayside than those on the nightside. Especially the responses near the midnight were rather weak. In this paper, the possible reasonable physical explanation to above observations is also discussed. All the shock-induced responses are the joint effects of the solar wind dynamic pressure pulse and the magnetic field southward turning.     

Continuous magnetic reconnection at Earth's magnetopause

The most important process that allows solar-wind plasma to cross the magnetopause and enter Earth's magnetosphere is the merging between solar-wind and terrestrial magnetic fields of opposite sense-magnetic reconnection. It is at present not known whether reconnection can happen in a continuous fashion or whether it is always intermittent. Solar flares and magnetospheric substorms--two phenomena believed to be initiated by reconnection--are highly burst-like occurrences, raising the possibility that the reconnection process is intrinsically intermittent, storing and releasing magnetic energy in an explosive and uncontrolled manner. Here we show that reconnection at Earth's high-latitude magnetopause is driven directly by the solar wind, and can be continuous and even quasi-steady over an extended period of time. The dayside proton auroral spot in the ionosphere--the remote signature of high-latitude magnetopause reconnection--is present continuously for many hours. We infer that reconnection is not intrinsically intermittent; its steadiness depends on the way that the process is driven.     

In situ detection of collisionless reconnection in the Earth's magnetotail

Magnetic reconnection is the process by which magnetic field lines of opposite polarity reconfigure to a lower-energy state, with the release of magnetic energy to the surroundings. Reconnection at the Earth's dayside magnetopause and in the magnetotail allows the solar wind into the magnetosphere. It begins in a small 'diffusion region', where a kink in the newly reconnected lines produces jets of plasma away from the region. Although plasma jets from reconnection have previously been reported, the physical processes that underlie jet formation have remained poorly understood because of the scarcity of in situ observations of the minuscule diffusion region. Theoretically, both resistive and collisionless processes can initiate reconnection, but which process dominates in the magnetosphere is still debated. Here we report the serendipitous encounter of the Wind spacecraft with an active reconnection diffusion region, in which are detected key processes predicted by models of collisionless reconnection. The data therefore demonstrate that collisionless reconnection occurs in the magnetotail.     

Simulation of the dawn-dusk magnetosheath asymmetry under quasi-steady states

The dawn-dusk asymmetry of the magnetosheath under quasi-steady states has been studied by using a newly developed 3D MHD magnetosphere simulation model. The results show that the dawn-dusk asymmetry is substantial because of the Parker spiral IMF. It is found that the dawn-dusk magnetosheath thickness asymmetry is the effect of different shock conditions. The plasma density and flux asymmetry are mainly caused by the different thickness of the dawn-dusk magnetosheath, and the magnetic reconnection on the magnetopause has no significant effects. It is also showed that the Plasma Depletion Layer in front of the dayside magnetopause can cause duskward plasma flow, and the total plasma flux on the dusk side will be higher.     

Auroral substorm response to solar wind pressure shock

Two cases of auroral substorms have been studied with the Polar UVI data, which were associated with solar wind pressure shock arriving at the Earth. The global aurora activities started about 1–2 min after pressure shocks arrived at dayside magnetopause, then nightside auroras intensified rapidly 3–4 min later, with auroral substorm onset. The observations in synchronous orbit indicated that the compressing effects on magnetosphere were observed in their corresponding sites about 2 min after the pressure shocks impulse magnetopause. We propose that the auroral intensification and substorm onset possibly result from hydromagnetic wave produced by the pressure shock. The fast-mode wave propagates across the magnetotail lobes with higher local Alfven velocity, magnetotail was compressed rapidly and strong lobe field and cross-tail current were built in about 1–2 min, and furthermore the substorm was triggered due to an instability in current sheet.     

子午面磁层顶位形结构的MHD模拟研究

本文基于太阳风-磁层-电离层耦合的全球磁流体力学(MHD)数值模拟,研究几种典型的太阳风动压和行星际磁场条件下,地球子午面上方磁层顶的位置和形状特征,以及磁层顶位形参数日下点距离和磁层顶张角随行星际条件的变化规律。模拟结果表明:正午午夜子午面磁层顶位形具有内凹结构,当行星际磁场为南向时,随磁场强度增强,日下点距离减小;行星际磁场为北向时,随磁场强度增强,日下点距离增大。动压增大,日下点距离减小。南向磁场强度增强,磁层顶张角变大。这些模拟结果与基于卫星数据的高纬经验模型(B00)以及(Schield)模型的经验结论相吻合,说明MHD模拟是研究磁层顶位形的有效工具。特别是在高纬穿越数据的获得受限时,基于对磁层顶位形的物理理论研究构建的数值模拟数据是解决这一问题的有效途径。     

Multi-scale pressure-balanced structures in the solar wind observed by WIND

This work detects multi-scale, from hour to seconds, pressure-balanced structures (PBSs) in the solar wind based on the anti- correlation between the plasma thermal pressure and the magnetic pressure measured by WIND at 1 AU on April 5th, 2001. In our former research based on Cluster measurements, we showed the anti-correlation between the electron density and the magnetic field strength in multi-scales, and we supposed these structures may be pressure-balanced structures. Thus, in this work we aim to prove our speculation by the direct evidence on pressure measurements. Different from our previous work, we apply the WIND measurements this time, for they have both the magnetic pressure and the plasma pressure which Cluster could not offer. We use the wavelet cross-coherence method to analyze the correlation between the plasma pressure (P th ) and the magnetic pressure (P B ), and also the electron density (N e ) and the magnetic field strength (B) on various scales. We observe the anti-correlation between P th and P B distributed at different temporal scales ranging from 1000 s down to 10 s. This result directly indicates the existence of pressure- balanced structures (PBSs) with different sizes in the solar wind. Further, We compare the wavelet cross correlation spectrum of P th -P B and N e -B. We notice that the two spectra are similar in general. Thus this result confirms that the relation between P th -P B and N e -B are consistent with each other in the PBSs we study. Moreover, we compare the power spectrum density (PSD) of relative N e fluctuation with our previous work based on Cluster measurements. The two spectra show similar trend with Komolgorov’s -5/3 as their slopes. This may imply the similarity of the structures observed by both WIND and Cluster spacecrafts. Finally, we discuss the possible formation mechanisms for these multi-scale pressure-balanced structures. Our result is important to support the existence of multi-scale PBSs from one-hour scale down to one-minute, and is helpful to understand the role of compressive fluctuation in the solar wind turbulence dominated by Alfvénic cascading.     

Dependence of magnetic field just inside the magnetopause on subsolar standoff distance: Global MHD results

The subsolar magnetopause is the boundary between the solar wind and the Earth’s magnetosphere,where reduced solar wind dynamic pressure is equal to the magnetic pressure of the Earth’s outer magnetosphere.We use a global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD)model to estimate the ratio f of the compressed magnetic field just inside the subsolar magnetopause to the purely dipolar magnetic field.We also compare our numerical results to a similar work by Shue,which used Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms(THEMIS)data.Our results show that the ratio f is linearly proportional to the subsolar magnetopause standoff distance(r0)for both the northward and southward interplanetary magnetic field,properties consistent with Shue but with a smaller proportionality constant.However,previous theoretical studies show that f is nearly independent of the subsolar standoff distance.The global model results also show that f is smaller for the southward Interplanetary Magnetic Field(IMF)under the same r0,and that the proportionality constant for the southward IMF is larger than that for the northward IMF.Both conclusions agree with statistical results from observations by Shue.     

核磁共振全直径岩心分析仪磁体的研制

采用核磁共振进行石油岩心分析，可以从一块岩样中得到孔隙度(总孔隙度、有效孔隙度、粘土束缚水孔隙度等)、自由流体指数(可动流体百分数)、孔径分布以及渗透率等多种参数，具有无损检测、一机多参数、一样多参数的显优点．我国油田以陆相沉积油田为主，其主要特点是储层存在严重的非均质性，所以采用核磁共振全直径岩心分析非常有必要性，和核磁共振标准岩心分析同样重要，磁体是核磁共振岩心分析仪的核心部件，这种磁体相对体积较小，有效气隙大，重量轻．在设计磁体时，首先要根据经验初步确定磁体类型和结构尺寸，然后再用有限元方法进行计算，得出准确的尺寸，装配完的磁体通过无源匀场使磁体的均匀度达到要求，磁场的均匀度和FID(free induction decay)信号衰减程度密切相关，FID衰减的越快，说明磁体均匀度越差，磁体经调试完毕后，使用煤油和四氯化碳模拟孔隙介质组成的标准样做FID测试，通过磁体的测试，可知磁体的均匀度、磁场场强的温度稳定性、磁体的总体稳定性良好，完全可以给核磁共振全直径岩心分析仪营造一个合适的匀场环境。     

Comparison of a new model with previous models for the low-latitude magnetopause size and shape

In this study, the advantages and the limitations of previous low-latitude magnetopause empirical models are discussed. In order to overcome their limitations and inherit their advantages, a new continuous function for the influence of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) Bz on the magnetopause, the Shue model function and the 613 low-latitude magnetopause crossings are used to construct a new low-latitude magnetopause model parameterized by the solar wind dynamic pressure (Dp) and IMF Bz. In comparison ...     

Tidal dissipation and the strength of the Earth's internal magnetic field

Magnetic fields at the Earth's surface represent only a fraction of the field inside the core. The strength and structure of the internal field are poorly known, yet the details are important for our understanding of the geodynamo. Here I obtain an indirect estimate for the field strength from measurements of tidal dissipation. Tidally driven flow in the Earth's liquid core develops internal shear layers, which distort the internal magnetic field and generate electric currents. Ohmic losses damp the tidal motions and produce detectable signatures in the Earth's nutations. Previously reported evidence of anomalous dissipation in nutations can be explained with a core-averaged field of 2.5?mT, eliminating the need for high fluid viscosity or a stronger magnetic field at the inner-core boundary. Estimates for the internal field constrain the power required for the geodynamo.     

Transport of solar wind into Earth's magnetosphere through rolled-up Kelvin-Helmholtz vortices

Establishing the mechanisms by which the solar wind enters Earth's magnetosphere is one of the biggest goals of magnetospheric physics, as it forms the basis of space weather phenomena such as magnetic storms and aurorae. It is generally believed that magnetic reconnection is the dominant process, especially during southward solar-wind magnetic field conditions when the solar-wind and geomagnetic fields are antiparallel at the low-latitude magnetopause. But the plasma content in the outer magnetosphere increases during northward solar-wind magnetic field conditions, contrary to expectation if reconnection is dominant. Here we show that during northward solar-wind magnetic field conditions-in the absence of active reconnection at low latitudes-there is a solar-wind transport mechanism associated with the nonlinear phase of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. This can supply plasma sources for various space weather phenomena.     

Simulation of mode conversion at the magnetopause

Two-dimensional(2-D)and three-dimensional(3-D)hybrid simulations are carried out for mode conversion from fast mode compressional wave to kinetic Alfvn waves(KAWs)at the inhomogeneous magnetopause boundary.For cases in which the incident fast wave propagates in the xz plane,with the magnetopause normal along x and the background magnetic field pointing along z,the 2-D (xz)simulation shows that KAWs with large wave number kxρi～1 are generated near the Alfve′n resonance surface,whereρi is the ion Larmor radius.Several nonlinear wave properties are manifest in the mode conversion process.Harmonics of the driver frequency are generated.As a result of nonlinear wave interaction,the mode conversion region and its spectral width are broadened.In the 3-D simulation,after this first stage of the mode conversion to KAWs with large kx,a subsequent generation of KAW modes of finite ky is observed in the later stage,through a nonlinear parametric decay process.Since the nonlinear cascade to ky can lead to massive transport at the magnetopause,the simulation results provide an effective transport mechanism at the plasma boundaries in space as well as laboratory plasmas.     

A deep dynamo generating Mercury's magnetic field

Mercury has a global magnetic field of internal origin and it is thought that a dynamo operating in the fluid part of Mercury's large iron core is the most probable cause. However, the low intensity of Mercury's magnetic field--about 1% the strength of the Earth's field--cannot be reconciled with an Earth-like dynamo. With the common assumption that Coriolis and Lorentz forces balance in planetary dynamos, a field thirty times stronger is expected. Here I present a numerical model of a dynamo driven by thermo-compositional convection associated with inner core solidification. The thermal gradient at the core-mantle boundary is subadiabatic, and hence the outer region of the liquid core is stably stratified with the dynamo operating only at depth, where a strong field is generated. Because of the planet's slow rotation the resulting magnetic field is dominated by small-scale components that fluctuate rapidly with time. The dynamo field diffuses through the stable conducting region, where rapidly varying parts are strongly attenuated by the skin effect, while the slowly varying dipole and quadrupole components pass to some degree. The model explains the observed structure and strength of Mercury's surface magnetic field and makes predictions that are testable with space missions both presently flying and planned.     

Euler potentials’discontinuity in the presence of field line-aligned currents

Since their use in the study of charged particle motion in the 1960s,Euler potentials(α ,β)have been widely employed as magnetic field coordinates in both space plasma and fusion plasma studies.People related them to magnetic vector potential A via the relation A=α▽β subject to gauge condition A·B=0(B is the magnetic induction).For a given magnetic field,the Euler potentials are often constructed with the relation B·△ S=△α△βon a surface that crosses the field lines,where △ S is the area-element surrounding by two line-elements corresponding to the changes in α and β,then mapping the values of α and βalong field lines into space.In this short paper,we show that in the presence of field line-aligned currents,the mapping does not work and the orthogonality gauge condition is not satisfied.     

椭圆电流焦点处磁场计算

根据毕奥—萨伐尔定律，分别使用极坐标系和直角坐标系下的椭圆方程，利用矢量分析的方法推导出椭圆形电流焦点的磁场表达式，并由此导出了圆电流圆心的磁场，为其它电流的磁场计算提供一种新的方法。     

非磁性航空金属构件检测中 脉冲远场涡流传感器的仿真设计

在分析脉冲远场涡流检测原理的基础上,采用U型罩结构模拟管道,成功的将脉冲远场涡流技术应用到了非磁性金属平板的检测中；仿真设计了空心、聚磁、连通磁路3种传感器模型,比较了不同模型过渡区的远近、对缺陷检测的灵敏度及对不同厚度平板的检测能力.仿真结果表明:带连通磁路的传感器模型不仅可以将激励与检测线圈之间的距离从20 mm缩短至10 mm,还可以提高对缺陷检测的灵敏度,同时,带连通磁路的传感器模型对厚度为11 mm以上的平板具有更强的检测能力.     

各向异性磁矢势A的微分方程及其解

从各向异性介质中的磁场基本方程组出发，导出各向异性磁矢势的Ａ的微分方程，直接耱解而得Ａ的积分公式，并通过实例说明在各向异性坐标系中Ａ求Ｂ的方法。     

基于无线电掩星观测的火星电离层观测研究进展

火星电离层早期的观测数据非常少,除了Viking登陆器对火星电离层的在位测量外,火星电离层的主要物理信息是通过掩星观测方法得到的.近年来,Mars Global Surveyor和Mars Express轨道器通过掩星观测的方法对火星的上层大气和电离层进行了长期的观测,得到了大量的火星电离层电子密度廓线资料.火星电离层受到来自太阳EUV和X射线辐射、太阳风、太阳耀斑、中性大气、表面壳磁场、宇宙射线、流星等多种因素的影响,使其结构发生瞬态或季节性的变化.本文介绍了行星无线电掩星探测的基本原理和技术特点,回顾了国内外科学家们基于已有的火星掩星观测数据（主要是Mars GlobalSurveyor和Mars Express）在火星电离层研究中的一些最新科学成果,并详细介绍了火星电离层的结构和火星夜间电离层的主要特征.     

MR-J型磁流变阻尼器性能测试与阻尼力预估模型

磁流变阻尼器阻尼力预估模型易受磁流变液磁感应强度一剪切屈服强度（B－τ）曲曲线精度及磁芯饱和效应的影响．导致阻尼器的预估阻尼力与实际阻尼力有较大偏差．针对上述问题,设计并制作了2个磁芯可更换的MR—J型磁流变阻尼器,通过对阻尼器的磁场分布和动力性能的测试,研究了磁芯面积、活塞节段数及磁场分布对阻尼器力学性能的影响：结合实测结果与有限元分析结果,提出了B－τ曲线的实用识别方法,建立了考虑磁芯饱和效应的阻尼力预估模型研究表明：磁流变阻尼器的磁场分布和阻尼力随磁动势上升存在明显的磁芯饱和效应,且阻尼器的饱和磁动势随磁芯面积增大而增大;所提出的磁流变液B－τ曲线实用识别方法能正确描述阻尼器实际工作状态下磁流变液的性能参数：所提出的阻尼力预估模型能较为精确地预估磁流变阻尼器的实际阻尼力．