Shape of the terrestrial plasma sheet in the near-Earth magnetospheric tail as imaged by the Interstellar Boundary Explorer

Dayeh, M. A.; Fuselier, S. A.; Funsten, H. O.; McComas, D. J.; Ogasawara, K.; Petrinec, S. M.; Schwadron, N. A.; Valek, P.

doi:10.1002/2015GL063682

Title: Shape of the terrestrial plasma sheet in the near-Earth magnetospheric tail as imaged by the Interstellar Boundary Explorer

Journal Article · Sat Apr 11 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Geophysical Research Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL063682· OSTI ID:1212467

Dayeh, M. A. ^[1]; Fuselier, S. A. ^[2]; Funsten, H. O. ^[3]; McComas, D. J. ^[2]; Ogasawara, K. ^[1]; Petrinec, S. M. ^[4];

^[5]; Valek, P. ^[2]

Univ. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX (United States)
Univ. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX (United States); Univ. of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX (United States)
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center, Palo Alto, CA (United States)
Univ. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX (United States); Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire (United States). Space Science Center.

We present remote, continuous observations from the Interstellar Boundary Explorer of the terrestrial plasma sheet location back to -16 Earth radii (R_E) in the magnetospheric tail using energetic neutral atom emissions. The time period studied includes two orbits near the winter and summer solstices, thus associated with large negative and positive dipole tilt, respectively. Continuous side-view images reveal a complex shape that is dominated mainly by large-scale warping due to the diurnal motion of the dipole axis. Superposed on the global warped geometry are short-time fluctuations in plasma sheet location that appear to be consistent with plasma sheet flapping and possibly twisting due to changes in the interplanetary conditions. We conclude that the plasma sheet warping due to the diurnal motion dominates the average shape of the plasma sheet. Over short times, the position of the plasma sheet can be dominated by twisting and flapping.

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Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-06NA25396

OSTI ID:: 1212467

Journal Information:: Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 42, Issue 7; ISSN 0094-8276

Publisher:: American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 13 works

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References (37)

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