Observation of Nonuniform Energy Dissipation in the Electron Diffusion Region of Magnetopause Reconnection Show others and affiliations
2021 (English) In: Geophysical Research Letters, ISSN 0094-8276, E-ISSN 1944-8007, Vol. 48, no 13, article id e2020GL091928Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
We use Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) data to investigate the energy dissipation in a magnetopause reconnection electron diffusion region (EDR) event with moderate guide field. The four MMS spacecraft were separated by about 10 km so that comparative study among spacecraft within the EDR can be implemented. Similar magnetic field and electric current properties at each spacecraft indicate the formation of a quasi-homogeneous magnetic and current structure in the diffusion region. However, we find that the energy dissipations detected by each spacecraft are still different due to the temporal or spatial effect of the out-of-plane reconnection electric field (EM) within the dissipation region. Our study suggests that the nonuniform or unsteady energy dissipation in the reconnection EDR may be a universal process.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages American Geophysical Union (AGU) , 2021. Vol. 48, no 13, article id e2020GL091928
Keywords [en]
Diffusion region, intermittent energy dissipation, magnetic reconnection
National Category
Fusion, Plasma and Space Physics
Identifiers URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-302684 DOI: 10.1029/2020GL091928 ISI: 000694024600005 Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85109741053 OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-302684 DiVA, id: diva2:1598451
Note QC 20210929
2021-09-292021-09-292022-06-25 Bibliographically approved