Fine structure of the field and plasma waves within the front of a quasiperpendicular shock

M. A. Balikhin , S. N. Walker , V. Krasnoselskikh (1)

1 LPC2E - Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace

The Cluster close separation at the terrestrial bow shock campaign (CSC) resulted in probing of the shock front with a pair of spacecraft with a separation of only a few kilometres. The design of the Cluster mission also enables the measurement of electric field components within the satellite spin plane with the separation of about 60 meters and sampling frequency 9 kHz using the EFW instrument internal burst mode. In the current work data sets obtained during the CSC and EFW burst modes are used to investigate fine structure of field evolution within the front of a quasiperpendicular shock together with properties of plasma waves/oscillations. Multipoint measurements enable the identification of the wave modes observed and validation of various physical models developed to explain the generation of these waves. Effects of both observed waves and shock front field structure on the dynamics of the electrons at the shock front are discussed and compared.

Mots clés: Plasma waves and instabilities; Particle acceleration; Plasma energization; Shock waves; SPACE PLASMA PHYSICS

Domaines: Planète et Univers [physics]

M. A. Balikhin, S. N. Walker, V. Krasnoselskikh. Fine structure of the field and plasma waves within the front of a quasiperpendicular shock. American Geophysical Union, 2018, San Francisco, United States. pp. 10. ⟨insu-03565542⟩