Rights statement: The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Advances in Space Research 38 (8), 2006, © ELSEVIER.
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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Cluster observations of a magnetic field cavity in the plasma sheet
AU - Draper, N. C.
AU - Lester, M.
AU - Cowley, S. W. H.
AU - Bosqued, J. M.
AU - Grocott, A.
AU - Wild, J. A.
AU - Bogdanova, Y. V.
AU - Fazakerley, A. N.
N1 - The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Advances in Space Research 38 (8), 2006, © ELSEVIER.
PY - 2006
Y1 - 2006
N2 - During the recovery phase of a substorm occurring on 1 September 2002 the four Cluster spacecraft crossed from the northern tail lobe into the plasma sheet. While the spacecraft were located in the plasma sheet boundary layer, the magnetic field data from the four spacecraft detected a cavity of close to zero magnetic field. The plasma in this cavity had characteristics similar to that of the central plasma sheet, possibly implying that the central plasma sheet had expanded over and subsequently receded back over the spacecraft. However, the unique four-spacecraft tetrahedral configuration of the Cluster spacecraft shows that this is not a valid scenario as the cavity passed over the four spacecraft, travelling continuously equatorwards and Earthwards. Our analysis is based on data from the Fluxgate Magnetometer, Cluster Ion Spectrometer, Plasma Electron and Current Experiment, and Research with Adaptive Particle Imaging Detectors instruments on board the Cluster spacecraft.
AB - During the recovery phase of a substorm occurring on 1 September 2002 the four Cluster spacecraft crossed from the northern tail lobe into the plasma sheet. While the spacecraft were located in the plasma sheet boundary layer, the magnetic field data from the four spacecraft detected a cavity of close to zero magnetic field. The plasma in this cavity had characteristics similar to that of the central plasma sheet, possibly implying that the central plasma sheet had expanded over and subsequently receded back over the spacecraft. However, the unique four-spacecraft tetrahedral configuration of the Cluster spacecraft shows that this is not a valid scenario as the cavity passed over the four spacecraft, travelling continuously equatorwards and Earthwards. Our analysis is based on data from the Fluxgate Magnetometer, Cluster Ion Spectrometer, Plasma Electron and Current Experiment, and Research with Adaptive Particle Imaging Detectors instruments on board the Cluster spacecraft.
KW - Magnetotail
KW - Boundary layers
KW - Space plasmas
U2 - 10.1016/j.asr.2005.09.024
DO - 10.1016/j.asr.2005.09.024
M3 - Journal article
VL - 38
SP - 1738
EP - 1743
JO - Advances in Space Research
JF - Advances in Space Research
SN - 0273-1177
IS - 8
ER -