Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) Mission Observations of Energetic Particle Dynamics and Structures Prior To and During Its First Encounters with the Reconnection-Rich Regions of Earth’s Magnetopause

Abstract:

The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission, launched on 13 March 2015, comprises 4 spacecraft flying in close formation in highly elliptical, near-Earth-equatorial orbits targeting understanding of the fundamental physics of magnetic reconnection using Earth’s magnetosphere as a plasma laboratory. The Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) Investigation on MMS is one of several fields-and-particles investigations. EPD comprises two sensor types, the Energetic Ion Spectrometer (EIS) with one instrument on each of the 4 spacecraft, and the Fly’s Eye Energetic Particle Spectrometer (FEEPS) with 2 instruments on each of the 4 spacecraft. EIS measures energetic ion energy, angle and elemental compositional distributions for protons from < 20 keV, and oxygen from 45 keV, up to > 1 MeV. FEEPS measures instantaneous ( 1/3 s) all sky images of energetic electrons from 25 keV to > 0.6 MeV and also measures total ion energy distributions from 45 keV to > 0.5 MeV to be used in conjunction with EIS to measure all-sky ion distributions. During the preparation stages for the prime mission (prior to 1 September 2015), with a 1.2 x 12 RE orbit precessing across the root of the magnetotail, EPD observed energetic particle responses to depolarization fronts and related particle injection features, ion composition and flow dynamics associated with injections, the dynamic formation of trapping-boundary-like features at intermediate magnetic latitudes, striking electron beam and butterfly distributions likely providing precursors to observations of the magnetopause-magnetosphere interface, and intense modulations in association ULF waves. In this overview presentation, we use some of these observations to document the promise that the EPD investigation holds for contributing to the resolution of reconnection-induced particle acceleration and structuring. We then show the early-mission energetic particle structures and dynamics observed at the magnetopause and in association with reconnection events identified by the mission for detailed study.