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Ann. Geophys., 23, 2897-2901, 2005
www.ann-geophys.net/23/2897/2005/
© European Geosciences Union 2005

Multiple flux rope events at the magnetopause observations by TC-1 on 18 March 2004

C. J. Xiao¹, Z. Y. Pu², Y. Wei³, Z. X. Liu⁴, C. M. Carr⁵, T. L. Zhang⁶, K.-H. Glassmeier⁷, H. Rème⁸, I. Dandouras⁸, and P. Daly^9
1National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100012, China
²School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
³Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100029, China
⁴Center of Space Science and Applied Research, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100080, China
⁵Space and Atmospheric Physics Group, The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, London SW7 2BZ, UK
⁶Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, 8042 Graz, Austria
⁷IGEP, Technical University of Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany
⁸CESR (Centre d’Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements), 31028 Toulouse, France
⁹Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, 37191 Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany

Abstract. From 23:10 to 23:50 UT on 18 March 2004, the Double Star TC-1 spacecraft detected eight flux ropes at the outbound crossing of the southern dawnside magnetopause. A notable guide field existed inside all ropes. In the mean time the Cluster spacecraft were staying in the magnetosheath and found that the events occurred under the condition of southward IMF B_z and dominant negative IMF B_y. There are six ropes that appeared quasi-periodically, with a repeated period being approximately 1-4 min. The last flux rope lasts for a longer time interval with a larger peak in the B_N variations; it can thus be referred to as a typical FTE. The 18 March 2004 event is quite similar to the multiple flux rope event observed by Cluster on 26 January 2001 at the northern duskside high-latitude magnetopause. A detailed comparison of these two events is made in the paper. Preliminary studies imply that both of these multiple flux ropes events seem to be produced by component reconnection at the dayside low-latitude magnetopause.

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Citation: Xiao, C. J., Pu, Z. Y., Wei, Y., Liu, Z. X., Carr, C. M., Zhang, T. L., Glassmeier, K.-H., Rème, H., Dandouras, I., and Daly, P.: Multiple flux rope events at the magnetopause observations by TC-1 on 18 March 2004, Ann. Geophys., 23, 2897-2901, 2005.   Bibtex   EndNote   Reference Manager