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Ann. Geophys., 24, 707-723, 2006
www.ann-geophys.net/24/707/2006/
© European Geosciences Union 2006

Coordinated observation of field line resonance in the mid-tail

Y. Zheng¹, A. T. Y. Lui¹, I. R. Mann², K. Takahashi¹, J. Watermann³, S.-H. Chen⁴, I. J. Rae², T. Mukai⁵, C. T. Russell⁶, A. Balogh⁷, R. F. Pfaff⁸, and H. Rème^9
1JHU/APL, Laurel, MD 20723-6099, USA
²Space Physics Group, Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
³Atmosphere Space Research Division, Danish Meteorological Institute, Denmark
⁴Universities Space Research Association, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
⁵ISAS/JAXA, 3-1-1, Yoshinodai, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 229-8510, Japan
⁶Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics /UCLA, Los Angeles CA 90024-1567, USA
⁷Imperial College, Department of Space and Atmospheric Physics, London, UK
⁸Laboratory for Solar and Space Physics, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
⁹CESR, BP4346, 31028 Toulouse Cedex 4, Toulouse, France

Abstract. Standing Alfvén waves of 1.1 mHz (~15 min in period) were observed by the Cluster satellites in the mid-tail during 06:00-07:00 UT on 8 August 2003. Pulsations with the same frequency were also observed at several ground stations near Cluster's footpoint. The standing wave properties were determined from the electric and magnetic field measurements of Cluster. Data from the ground magnetometers indicated a latitudinal amplitude and phase structure consistent with the driven field line resonance (FLR) at 1.1 mHz. Simultaneously, quasi-periodic oscillations at different frequencies were observed in the post-midnight/early morning sector by GOES 12 (l₀≈8.7), Polar (l₀≈11-14) and Geotail (l₀≈9.8). The 8 August 2003 event yields rare and interesting datasets. It provides, for the first time, coordinated in situ and ground-based observations of a very low frequency FLR in the mid-tail on stretched field lines.

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Citation: Zheng, Y., Lui, A. T. Y., Mann, I. R., Takahashi, K., Watermann, J., Chen, S.-H., Rae, I. J., Mukai, T., Russell, C. T., Balogh, A., Pfaff, R. F., and Rème, H.: Coordinated observation of field line resonance in the mid-tail, Ann. Geophys., 24, 707-723, 2006.   Bibtex   EndNote   Reference Manager