Plasma sheet stretching accompanied by field aligned energetic ion fluxes observed by the NUADU instrument aboard TC-2

The NUADU (NeUtral Atom Detector Unit) instrument aboard TC-2 recorded 4л solid angle images of charged particles (E >180 keV) spiraling around the magnetic field lines in the near-Earth plasma sheet (at ~ -7 RE, equatorial dawn-to-night side) during a geomagnetic storm (Dst =-219 nT) on August 24, 2005. Energetic ion beam events characterized by symmetrical, ring-like, solid angle distributions around ambient magnetic field lines were observed during a 34-minute traversal of the plasma sheet by the TC-2 spacecraft. Also, observations during these multiple crossings of the plasma sheet were monitored by the magnetometer experiment (FGM) aboard the same spacecraft. During each crossing, a whistler-mode chorus enhancement was observed in the anisotropic area by the TC-2 low frequency electromagnetic wave detector (LFEW/TC-2) at a frequency just above that of the local lower hybrid wave. A comparison of the ion pitch angle distribution (PAD) map with the ambient magnetic field shows that an enhancement in the field aligned energetic ion flux was accompanied by tailward stretching of the magnetic field lines in the plasma sheet. In contrast, the perpendicular ion-flux enhancement was accompanied by a signature indicating the corresponding shrinkage of the magnetic field lines in the plasma sheet. Since both parallel ion-flux and perpendicular ion-flux enhancements occurred intermittently, the data were interpreted to imply a dynamical, oscillatory process of the magnetic field line (stretching and shrinking) in the near-Earth plasma sheet, which might have acted to help establish an interaction region in this area which would support continuous aurora-substorm triggering during the ongoing magnetic storm. The whistler-mode chorus may have been produced due to ion gyro-resonance during particle pitch angle diffusion after the plasma sheet compression.     

Observations of kinetic Alfvén waves by THEMIS near a substorm onset

Low frequency electromagnetic fluctuations in the vicinity of a magnetospheric substorm onset were investigated using simultaneous observations by THEMIS multiple probes in the near-Earth plasma sheet in the magnetotail.The observations indicate that in the vicinity of a substorm onset,kinetic Alfvén waves can be excited in the high-βplasma sheet(β=2μ0nT/B 2 ,the ratio of plasma thermal pressure to magnetic pressure)within the near-Earth magnetotail.The kinetic Alfvén wave has a small spatial scale in the high-βplasma.The parallel electric field accompanying kinetic Alfvén waves accelerates the charged particles along the magnetic field.The kinetic Alfvén waves play an important role in the substorm trigger process,and possibly in the formation of a substorm current wedge.     

磁层亚暴过程中的磁岛合并特征

采用实际的磁尾位型,利用数值模拟研究地球近地磁尾磁层亚暴过程中的磁岛合并过程,选取了磁尾电流片中三个测量点,分析了电流、磁场、等离子体密度以及速度随时间的变化规律,合理的解释磁层亚暴过程中的观测现象。     

近地小行星天地基光学监测系统预警能力分析

针对近地小行星撞击地球的威胁,分析研究了各类典型天地基光学监测系统的短期预警能力.提出了短期预警圈的概念,利用太阳系内天体光学反射模型,仿真计算了以LSST为代表的大口径地基望远镜,以日-地L1点、类金星轨道和大幅值逆行轨道三种典型轨道为代表的天基光学监测系统的短期预警能力,并比较了三种天基系统对太阳方向来袭的近地小行星的预警能力.结果表明,L1点预警覆盖稍好但可提供的预警时间较短;类金星轨道星座预警时间长、天区覆盖广,但存在相位间隙会导致漏警;大幅值逆行轨道针对太阳方向具有覆盖率高、预警时间长等优势.可见,通过部署若干天基系统监测节点,可以为地基监测系统提供有力补充,解决太阳方向的覆盖盲区问题,全方位预警近地小行星撞击地球风险.      

The distribution characteristics of the flows in the near-Earth region： TC-1 observational results

TC-1 observational results clearly indicate that the velocity of the flows in the near-Earth region is dependent on the satellite location. The flow speed decreases while satellite moves close to the Earth. The plasma flow in the region close to the Earth tends to drift into the midnight region from the dawn and dusk region while the flow in the region away from the Earth shows an opposite drift. The observational results also show that the tailward flows are mainly located in the plasma sheet boundary while the earthward flow becomes dominant in the plasma sheet. It is found that both the strong tailward and earthward flows are distributed in the region around X= -11 Re, which coincides with the trigger region of the substorm onset. Hence, it may suggest that the flows are related with the trigger of the substorm onset. In addition, the BBFs coming from the mid-tail maily distributed in the region where X〈-9R E a n d ｜Z｜ 〈 3 R E that differs from the convection.     

Statistical survey on the magnetic field in magnetotail current sheets: Cluster observations

The distribution properties of the magnetic field in magnetotail current sheets have been explored statistically with the magnetic measurement data of the Cluster mission from June to November of the years 2001–2005. It is found that, on average, the strength of the magnetic field and its B_z component in the current sheet are weaker in the region close to midnight but stronger near the dawnside and duskside flanks, which implies that, in general, a thinner current sheet occurs near midnight and thicker ones near both flanks. The occurrence of tail current sheet flapping is higher on both flanks than in the midnight region, although it is most frequent in the dawn flank. Current sheets with a negative B_z component or a strong B_y component have a higher probability of occurring at magnetic local times of 21:00–01:00, indicating that magnetic activity, e.g. magnetic reconnection and current disruption occur more frequently there. Statistically, the probability distributions of the B_y component and the tilt angle of magnetic field lines in the current sheet are approximately normal distributions, and the occurrence probability of the flattened current sheet is about one third that of the normal current sheet. The magnetic field and B_z component in the current sheet mainly vary from 1 nT to 10 nT. The B_y component in the tail central current sheet is on average twice the IMF B_y at 1 AU.     

MHD模拟磁尾横断面结构与太阳风粒子注入机制

基于全球三维磁层MHD（Magnetohydrodynamics）模拟模型, 研究了行星际磁场（Interplanetary Magnetic Field, IMF）北向与南向时磁尾横断面（X=?18 R_E）的结构及等离子片的粒子注入机制. 模拟结果很好地符合一些已知的观测数据和经验模型. 从向阳面磁层顶IMF及重联后磁力线尾向运动过程的角度, 对磁尾横断面粒子热压力分布、磁力线投影、等离子片或电流片旋转、粒子流场分布等结构进行了合理的解释. 根据模拟得到的磁尾横断面结构, 及IMF北向与南向时磁力线投影显著不同的位形, 可以通过E×B漂移很好地说明不同IMF条件下, 太阳风粒子对磁尾等离子片的不同注入特性. 另外, 还通过磁尾横断面磁场梯度的计算, 说明了太阳风向等离子片粒子注入的晨-昏不对称性.     

Double Star TC-1 observation of the earthward flowing plasmoids in the near magnetotail

We analyze Double Star TC-1 magnetic field data from July to September in 2004 and find that plas-moids exist in the very near-Earth magnetotail. It is the first time that TC-1 observes the plasmoids inthe magnetotail at X > ?13 RE. According to the difference of the magnetic field structure in plasmoids,we choose two typical cases for our study: the magnetic flux rope on August 6 with the open magneticfield and the magnetic loop on September 14 with the closed magnetic field. Both of the cases are as-sociated with the high speed earthward flow and the magnetic loop is related to a strong substorm. Theions can escape from the magnetic flux rope along its open field line, but the case of the closed mag-netic loop can trap the ions. The earthward flowing plasmoids observed by TC-1 indicate that the mul-tiple X-line magnetic reconnection occurs beyond the distance of X=?10 RE from the earth.     

Pressure gradient evolution in the near-Earth magnetotail at the arrival of BBFs

Using in situ observations from THEMIS A, D and E during the 2008-2011 tail season, we present a statistical study of the evolution of pressure gradients in the near-Earth tail during bursty bulk flow （BBF） convection. We identified 138 substorm BBFs and 2,197 non-substorm BBFs for this study. We found that both the pressure and the Bz component of the magnetic field were enhanced at the arrival of BBFs at the spacecraft locations. We suggest that the increase of Bz during non-substorm BBFs is associated with flux pile-up. However, the much stronger enhancement of Bz during substorm BBFs implies the occurrence of magnetic field dipolarization which is caused by both the flux pile-up process and near-Earth current disruption. Furthermore, a bow-wave-like high pressure appears to be formed at the arrival of substorm BBFs, which is responsible for the formation of region-1-sense FACs. The azimuthal pressure gradient associated with the arrival of substorm BBFs lasts for about 5 min. The enhanced pressure gradient associated with the bow wave is caused by the braking and diversion of the Earthward flow in the inner plasma sheet. The results from this statistical study suggest that the braking and azimuthal diversion of BBFs may commonly create azimuthal pressure gradients, which are related to the forrnation of the FAC of the substorm current wedge.