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Ann. Geophys., 25, 769-777, 2007
www.ann-geophys.net/25/769/2007/
© European Geosciences Union 2007

Geotail observations of temperature anisotropy of the two-component protons in the dusk plasma sheet

M. N. Nishino¹, M. Fujimoto¹, T. Terasawa², G. Ueno³, K. Maezawa¹, T. Mukai⁴, and Y. Saito^1
1ISAS/JAXA, Kanagawa 228-8510, Japan
²Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan
³Institute of Statistical Mathematics, Tokyo 106-8569, Japan
⁴JAXA, Tokyo 100-8260, Japan

Abstract. In search for clues towards the understanding of the cold plasma sheet formation under northward IMF, we study the temperature anisotropy of the two-component protons in the plasma sheet near the dusk low-latitude boundary observed by the Geotail spacecraft. The two-component protons result from mixing of the cold component from the solar wind and the hot component of the magnetospheric origin, and may be the most eloquent evidence for the transport process across the magnetopause. The cold component occasionally has a strong anisotropy in the dusk flank, and the sense of the anisotropy depends on the observed locations: the parallel temperature is enhanced in the tail flank while the perpendicular temperature is enhanced on the dayside. The hot component is nearly isotropic in the tail while the perpendicular temperature is enhanced on the dayside. We discuss possible mechanism that can lead to the observed temperature anisotropies.

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Citation: Nishino, M. N., Fujimoto, M., Terasawa, T., Ueno, G., Maezawa, K., Mukai, T., and Saito, Y.: Geotail observations of temperature anisotropy of the two-component protons in the dusk plasma sheet, Ann. Geophys., 25, 769-777, 2007.   Bibtex   EndNote   Reference Manager