Cold Dense Plasma Sheet Formation: A Multi-Spacecraft View Point

M. G. Taylor (1) , B. Lavraud (2) , M.W. Dunlop (3, 4) , J. A. Davies (3) , S. Milan (5) , M. F. Thomsen (2) , P. Escoubet (1) , H. Laakso (1) , Arnaud Masson (1) , H. Opgenoorth (1) , C. Vallat (1) , R. H. Friedel (2) , A. N. Fazakerley (6) , H. Frey (7) , Y. Bogdanova (6) , C. Carr (4) , H. Khan (6) , E. A. Lucek (4) , K. Nykyri (4) , C. J. Owen (6) , Frederic Pitout (8) , Z. Pu (9) , H. Reme (10) , Chao Shen (11) , Tiantian Zhang (12) , Q. Zong (13) , J. D. Scudder (5)

1 ESTEC - European Space Research and Technology Centre
2 Space Science and Applications
3 RAL Space - Space Science and Technology Department [Didcot]
4 Blackett Laboratory
5 Department of Physics and Astronomy [Leicester]
6 MSSL - Mullard Space Science Laboratory
7 SSL - Space Sciences Laboratory [Berkeley]
8 MPE - Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik
9 School of Earth and Space Sciences
10 CESR - Centre d'étude spatiale des rayonnements
11 CSSAR - Center for Space Science and Applied Research [Beijing]
12 IWF - Space Research Institute of Austrian Academy of Sciences
13 CSP - Center for Space Physics [Boston]

During conditions of northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), the near tail plasma sheet is known to become denser and cooler. The mechanisms, and their efficiency, which allow for the formation of this cold dense plasma sheet (CDPS) are of great interest, in particular whether plasma is transferred to the magnetosphere via poleward-of-cusp, lobe reconnection or via mechanisms at the flank magnetopause. This work builds on a recent case study by the authors, in which data from a wide variety of spacecraft observations, including Double Star (TC-1 and TC-2), Polar, LANL GEO and IMAGE, showed evidence of lobe reconnection in both hemispheres along with large-scale flank boundary waves. In this current study, we will present observations from the recent tail and dayside seasons of the Cluster and Double star missions, whose separation in local time presents some excellent opportunities to examine the favoured transport mechanisms for CDPS formation.

M. G. Taylor, B. Lavraud, M.W. Dunlop, J. A. Davies, S. Milan, et al.. Cold Dense Plasma Sheet Formation: A Multi-Spacecraft View Point. The Western Pacific Geophysics Meeting (WPGM), Jul 2006, Beijing, China. ⟨insu-00367931⟩