SM41I-09
Comparison of Magnetospheric Multiscale Magnetopause Crossing Signatures With Predicted Reconnection Line Locations
Thursday, 17 December 2015: 09:48
2018 (Moscone West)
Steven M Petrinec1, James L Burch2, Stephen A Fuselier2, Roman Garcia Gomez3, William S Lewis3, Karlheinz J Trattner4, Robert E Ergun5, Barry Mauk6, Craig J Pollock7, Conrad Schiff7, Robert J Strangeway8, Tai Phan9 and David T Young3, (1)Lockheed Martin Corporation, Arlington, VA, United States, (2)Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, United States, (3)Southwest Research Institute San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States, (4)Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Boulder, CO, United States, (5)University of Colorado, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Research, Boulder, CO, United States, (6)Applied Physics Laboratory Johns Hopkins, Laurel, MD, United States, (7)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Heliophysics Sci. Div., Greenbelt, MD, United States, (8)University of California Los Angeles, IGPP/EPSS, Los Angeles, CA, United States, (9)University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
Abstract:
Magnetic reconnection at the Earth’s magnetopause is the primary process by which solar wind plasma and energy gains access to the magnetosphere. One indication that magnetic reconnection is occurring is the observation of accelerated plasma tangential to the magnetopause. This work describes an initial examination of the direction of accelerated ion flows along the magnetopause surface as observed by the Hot Plasma Composition Analyzer (HPCA) instruments on board the recently launched Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) set of spacecraft. The accelerated flow directions are compared with the predicted location of magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause using convected solar wind observations in conjunction with the Maximum Magnetic Shear model.
