Observations of Closed Magnetic Flux Embedded in the Lobes During Periods of Northward IMF.

ABSTRACT: The high latitude, lobe regions of the magnetosphere are often assumed to contain cool, low energy plasma populations. However, during periods of northward Interplanetary Magnetic Field, energetic plasma populations have occasionally been observed. We present three cases when Cluster observed uncharacteristically "hot" plasma populations in the lobe. For two of the three events, we present simultaneous observations of the plasma sheet observed by Double Star. The similarity between the plasma in the lobe and the plasma sheet suggests that the mechanism that produces plasma at high latitudes is likely to be tail reconnection, resulting in a trapped "wedge" of closed flux about the noon-midnight meridian. Complementary images from Imager for Magnetopause to Aurora Global Exploration and DMSP

SUBMITTER: Fryer LJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11578173 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature