Bursty bulk flows in the inner central plasma sheet

Journal Article · Wed Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1992 · Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/91JA02701· OSTI ID:5556440

Angelopoulos, V; Kennel, C F; Coroniti, F V; Kivelson, M G; Pellat, R; Walker, R J ^[1]; Baumjohann, W; Paschmann, G ^[2]; Luehr, H ^[3]

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1. Univ. of California, Los Angeles (United States)
2. Max-Planck-Inst. fuer extraterrestrische Physik, Garching (West Germany)
3. Univ. Braunschweig (West Germany)

High speed flow in the inner central plasma sheet are studied, together with the concurrent behavior of the plasma and magnetic field, by using AMPTE/IRM data from {approx} 9 to 19 R{sub E} in the Earth's magnetotail. The conclusions drawn from the detailed analysis of a representative event are reinforced by a superposed epoch analysis on 2 years of data. The high-speed flows organize themselves in 10-min time scale flow enhancements which they call bursty bulk flow (BBF) events. Both temporal and spatial effects are responsible for their bursty nature. The flow velocity exhibits peaks of very large amplitude with a characteristic time scale of the order of a minute, which are usually associated with magnetic field dipolarizations and ion temperatures increases. The BBFs represent intervals of enhanced earthward convection and energy transport per unit area in the y-z GSM direction of the order of 5 {times} 10{sup 19} ergs/R{sub E}{sup 2}.

• OSTI ID: 5556440
• Journal Information: Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States) Vol. 97:A4; ISSN JGREA; ISSN 0148-0227
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

661320* -- Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magnetospheric Phenomena-- (1992-)
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BOUNDARY LAYERS
CONVECTION
DATA ANALYSIS
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
EARTH MAGNETOSPHERE
ENERGY TRANSFER
HEAT TRANSFER
INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELDS
ION TEMPERATURE
LAYERS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETOTAIL
MASS TRANSFER
MATHEMATICS
PLASMA DRIFT
PLASMA SHEET
STATISTICS
VARIATIONS