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| Titel |
Magnetic Configurations of the Tilted Current Sheets and Dynamics of Their Flapping in Magnetotail |
| VerfasserIn |
C. Shen, Z. J. Rong, X. Li, M. Dunlop, Z. X. Liu, H. V. Malova, E. Lucek, C. Carr |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2009
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 11 (2009) |
| Datensatznummer |
250020303
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Based on multiple spacecraft measurements, the geometrical structures of tilted current sheet
and tail flapping waves have been analyzed and some features of the tilted current sheets have
been made clear for the first time. The geometrical features of the tilted current sheet revealed
in this investigation are as follows: (1) The magnetic field lines (MFLs) are generally plane
curves and the osculating planes in which the MFLs lie are about vertical to the magnetic
equatorial plane, while the tilted current sheet may lean severely to the dawn or dusk side. (2)
The tilted current sheet may become very thin, its half thickness is generally much less
than the minimum radius of the curvature of the MFLs. (3) In the neutral sheet, the
field-aligned current density becomes very large and has a maximum value at the center of
the current sheet. (4) In some cases, the current density is a bifurcated one, and
the two humps of the current density often superpose two peaks in the gradient of
magnetic strength, indicating that the magnetic gradient drift current is possibly
responsible for the formation of the two humps of the current density in some tilted
current sheets. Tilted current sheets often appear along with tail thick current sheet
flapping waves. It is found that, in the tail flapping current sheets, the minimum
curvature radius of the MFLs in the current sheet is rather large with values around
1RE, while the neutral sheet may be very thin, with its half thickness being several
tenths ofRE. During the flapping waves, the current sheet is tilted substantially, and
the maximum tilt angle is generally larger than 45 |
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