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Ann. Geophys., 20, 619-628, 2002
www.ann-geophys.net/20/619/2002/
© European Geosciences Union 2002
ISEE-3 observations of a viscously-driven plasma sheet: magnetosheath mass and/or momentum transfer?
R. T. Mist and C. J. Owen
Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking, Surrey, RH5 6NT, UK
Correspondence to: C. J. Owen (cjo@mssl.ucl.ac.uk)
Abstract. A statistical analysis of
data from the ISEE-3 distant tail campaign is presented. We investigate the
mechanism driving slow, tailward flows observed in the plasma sheet. The
possibility that these slow flows are driven by mass and/or momentum transfer
across the distant tail magnetopause is explored. We establish that 40% of
these flows could be driven by the transfer of approximately 4% of the
magnetosheath momentum flux into the magnetotail. Current understanding of the
Kelvin-Helmholtz instability suggests that this figure is consistent with the
amount of momentum flux transfer produced by this mechanism. We also consider
the possibility that these flows are solely driven by transferring
magnetosheath plasma across the magnetopause. We find that there is sufficient
mass observed on these field lines for this to be the sole driving mechanism
for only 27% of the observed slow flows.
Key words. Magnetospheric physics (magnetotail
boundary layers; plasma convection; plasma sheet)
Full Article in PDF (121 KB) |
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