Mass Loading the Earth's Dayside Magnetopause Boundary Layer and Its Effect on Magnetic Reconnection
Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: When the interplanetary magnetic field is northward for a period of time, O+ from the high‐latitude ionosphere escapes along reconnected magnetic field lines into the dayside magnetopause boundary layer. Dual‐lobe reconnection closes these field lines, which traps O+ and mass loads the boundary layer. This O+ is an additional source of magnetospheric plasma that interacts with magnetosheath plasma through magnetic reconnection. This mass loading and interaction is illustrated through analysis of a magnetopause crossing by the Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft. While in the O+‐rich boundary layer, the interplanetary magnetic field turns southward. As the Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft cross the high‐shear magnetopause, reconnection signatures are observed. While the reconnection rate is likely reduced by the mass loading, reconnection is not suppressed at the magnetopause. The high‐latitude dayside ionosphere is therefore a source of magnetospheric ions that contributes often to transient reduction in the reconnection rate at the dayside magnetopause.
Source: Geophysical Research Letters
DOI: 10.1029/2019gl082384
Authors: S. A. Fuselier, K. J. Trattner, S. M. Petrinec, M. H. Denton, S. Toledo‐Redondo, M. André, N. Aunai, C. R. Chappell, A. Glocer, S. E. Haaland, M. Hesse, L. M. Kistler, B. Lavraud, W. Li, T. E. Moore, D. Graham, L. Alm, P. Tenfjord, J. Dargent, S. K. Vines, K. Nykyri, J. L. Burch, R. J. Strangeway
Institutions: Southwest Research Institute, The University of Texas at San Antonio, University of Colorado Boulder, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Lockheed Martin (United States), New Mexico Consortium, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier, Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, Université de Toulouse, Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas, Vanderbilt University, Goddard Space Flight Center, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, University of Bergen, University of New Hampshire, National Space Science Center, State Key Laboratory of Space Weather, University of Pisa, Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Daytona Beach Florida Campus, Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University, University of California, Los Angeles
Language: English
Subfield: Space and Planetary Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G2750416160, G416554826
OpenAlex ID: W2952809592