Characteristics of Minor Ions and Electrons in Flux Transfer Events Observed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission.

ABSTRACT: In this study, the ion composition of flux transfer events (FTEs) observed within the magnetosheath proper is examined. These FTEs were observed just upstream of the Earth's postnoon magnetopause by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft constellation. The minor ion characteristics are described using energy spectrograms, flux distributions, and ion moments as the constellation encountered each FTE. In conjunction with electron data and magnetic field observations, such observations provide important contextual information on the formation, topologies, and evolution of FTEs. In particular, minor ions, when combined with the field-aligned streaming of electrons, are reliable indicators of FTE topology. The observations are also pl

SUBMITTER: Petrinec SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7507212 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature