First Results from the Electric and Magnetic Field Measurements on MMS

Torbert, Roy

First Results from the Electric and Magnetic Field Measurements on MMS

Friday, October 2, 2015: 9:40 AM

Roy B Torbert^1,2, James L Burch², Christopher T Russell³, Werner Magnes⁴, Robert E Ergun⁵, Per-Arne Lindqvist⁶, Olivier Le Contel⁷, Hans Vaith¹, John Macri¹, Steven Myers¹, David Rau⁸, Jerry Needell¹, Brian King¹, Mark Granoff¹, Mark Chutter⁸, Ivan Dors⁸, Matthew R Argall⁹, Jason R Shuster⁹, Goran Tage Marklund¹⁰, Yuri V Khotyaintsev¹¹, Anders I Eriksson¹¹, Goran Olsson⁶, Craig Kletzing¹², Scott R Bounds¹², Wolfgang Baumjohann⁴, Manfred Steller⁴, Kenneth R Bromund¹³, Guan Le¹⁴, Rumi Nakamura¹⁵, Robert J Strangeway¹⁶, Hannes Karl Leinweber¹⁷, Scott Tucker⁵, Jim Westfall⁵, David Fischer⁴, Ferdinand Plaschke¹⁸, Craig J Pollock¹⁴, Barbara L Giles¹⁴, Barry Mauk¹⁹, Stephen A Fuselier², Brian J Anderson²⁰ and FIELDS Team on MMS, (1)Univ New Hampshire, Durham, NH, United States, (2)Southwest Research Institute San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States, (3)University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, (4)Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz, Austria, (5)University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States, (6)KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, (7)Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas, Palaiseau, France, (8)University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, United States, (9)University of New Hampshire Main Campus, Durham, NH, United States, (10)Royal Inst Technology, KTH/EES, Stockholm, Sweden, (11)IRF Swedish Institute of Space Physics Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden, (12)University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, United States, (13)NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (14)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (15)Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria, (16)University of California Los Angeles, IGPP/EPSS, Los Angeles, CA, United States, (17)Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, (18)IWF ÖAW, Graz, Austria, (19)Applied Physics Laboratory Johns Hopkins, Laurel, MD, United States, (20)Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States

Abstract:

R.B. Torbert ^1,2, J.L. Burch ², C.T.Russell³,W. Magnes⁴, R.E. Ergun⁵, P.-A. Lindqvist⁶, O. LeContel⁷, H. Vaith¹, J. Macri¹, S. Myers,¹ D. Rau¹, J. Needell¹, B. King¹, M. Granoff¹, M. Chutter¹, I. Dors¹, M. Argall¹, J. Shuster¹, G. Olsson⁶, G. Marklund⁸, Y. Khotyaintsev⁸, A. Eriksson⁸, C.A. Kletzing⁹, S. Bounds⁹, B. J. Anderson¹⁰, W. Baumjohann⁴, M. Steller⁴, K. Bromund¹², G. Le¹², R. Nakamura⁴, R.J. Strangeway³, H. K. Leinweber³, S. Tucker⁵, J. Westfall⁵, D. Fischer⁴, F. Plaschke⁴, C. J. Pollock¹², B. L. Giles¹², B. Mauk¹⁰, S.A. Fuselier²

1University of New Hampshire; 2Southwest Research Institute; 3University of California, Los Angeles; 4Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz, Austria;

5University of Colorado, Boulder; 6Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden;

7Laboratory for Plasma Physics, Paris, France; 8Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Uppsala Sweden; 9University of Iowa; 10Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory; 11University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland; 12NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) fleet of four spacecraft was launched into its Phase-1 equatorial orbit of 12 Re apogee on March 13, 2015. In addition to a comprehensive suite of particle measurements, MMS makes very high time resolution, 3D, electric and magnetic field measurements of high accuracy using flux-gate, search coil, 3-axis double probe, and electron drift sensors. In July 2015, the MMS fleet will be maneuvered into its initial configuration of approximately 160 km separation, allowing investigation of the spatial and temporal characteristics of important dynamics within the magnetosphere. Using these field and particle measurements, we present first observations of current sheets at the dusk-side magnetopause, dipolarization fronts in the magnetotail, and substorm injections where the enhanced capabilities of MMS promise a better understanding of such geophysical phenomena.