Magnetospheric Multiscale Interaction with

Bifurcated Current Sheets Makenzie  O’Meara  

Introduction Advisor:  R.  Torbert
The  Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS)  mission  was  designed  to   Electron  Drift  Instrument Co-­‐Advisor:  M.  Argall
answer  questions  about  the  magnetohydrodynamics of  
-­‐ Electrons  coming  in  at  certain  pitch  angles
magnetic  reconnection  within  the  magnetopause.  Using  the  
high  time  resolution  data  from  these  four  spacecraft,  I  have   -­‐ Use  the  electron  flux  to  determine  location Bifurcated  Current  Sheets
attempted  to  observe  Bifurcated  Current  Sheets  (BCS)  within   -­‐ Either  North  of  South  of  reconnection -­‐ Hasn’t  been  studied  with  high  time  
the  magnetopause. resolution  until  now

Magnetic  Reconnection Magnetospheric$MulAscale$(MMS)$

field"line"iden)fica)on"with"the"
Electron"Dri2"Instrument"(EDI)$ 0 e
o$ @$
EDI"Electron"Flux$

MSP$
-­‐ Correlation  between  high  velocity  solar  
wind  and  BCS
-­‐ Phenomena  that  converts  magnetic  energy  to  kinetic  and   MSH$ t"
180o$e@$ MSH$ -­‐ Step  function  in  Bz
thermal  energy MSP$ 1$ 2$ 3$ t"
-­‐ Anti-­‐correlation  between  B  and  V
-­‐ Occurs  within  diffusion  regions   2
z
MMS$Orbit$
-­‐ Proposed  balancing  could  cause  this  
-­‐ Accelerates  plasma  away  from  the  reconnection  site 3$ 1$ x (equatorial)#
0o$electrons$
180o$electrons$ bifurcation
-­‐ Field  lines  from  the  southward  solar  wind  connect  to  those  in   4$

EDI"Electron"Flux$ -­‐ All  happening  on  the  magnetosphere  side

the  northward  magnetosphere 0o$e@$ MSH$

-­‐ A current  sheet  forms  where  the  field  reverses  sign   1$$$magnetosphere$(MSP)$
2$$$northern$exhaust$
t"
180o$e@$ MSP$
3$$$magnetosheath$(MSH)$
4$$$southern$exhaust$ t"
3 4 1

Diagram  curtesy  of  J.  Shuster

Magnetopause  Mapping
-­‐Over  60  crossings  of  the  
separatrix -20
http://mms.gsfc.nasa.gov/
-­‐October  1st through  
SPEDAS
-15
December  25th
-10
-­‐ Space  Physics   -­‐Attempting  to  compare  
Environment  Data   the  crossings  with  the  
-5

Analysis  Software
Y (Re)

Shue Model  for  the   0

magnetopause
-­‐ Capability  to  plot  all   5
4  spacecraft
,  
2 10
𝑅 = 𝑅# ∗
-­‐ Magnetic  Field 1 + cos 𝜃 15
Future  Works
-­‐ Energy  Spectra -­‐ Combine  all  4  space  craft  data  for  one  event
-­‐ Electric  Field 𝑅# = 1.146 + 0.131 ∗ 𝐵𝑧 20 -­‐ Analyze  the  EDI  data  for  BCS  events
15 10 5 0 -5
-­‐ Spacecraft  Potential X (Re) -­‐ Calculate  Magnetic  Shear  for  these  events
-­‐ Ion  Velocities              𝛼 + 0.590   − 0.011*Bz   -­‐ Continue  to  look  for  the  cause  of  BCS
-­‐ EDI  PA  0  and  180’s