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Multiplet structure of acceleration processes in the distant magnetotail

Multiplet structure of acceleration processes in the distant magnetotail

Publication date: 21 March 2006

Authors: Zelenyi, L.M. et al.

Journal: Geophys. Res. Lett.
Volume: 33
Issue: L6
Page: L06105
Year: 2006

Copyright: American Geophysical Union

We have studied ion distributions measured in the Plasma Sheet Boundary Layer (PSBL) of the Earth's magnetotail by the Cluster spacecraft at X ~ -15Re. Field-aligned ion beams (beamlets) accelerated in the magnetotail to energies of ~30keV are typically observed within the interface region between the Plasma Sheet (PS) and the magnetotail lobes. PSBL beamlets are produced by non-adiabatic ion acceleration in the vicinity of X-line which is located, during quiet periods, in the distant parts of the tail. Earlier kinetic models attributed the filamentary and/or bursty nature of these processes to Current Sheet (CS) resonances and predicted the scaling law for the velocity of subsequent structures as VN ~ N2/3. Cluster-2 provides experimental evidence from the PSBL from of the existence of such resonant structures in ion velocity space and provides the first statistically proven identification of such a scaling law for quiet and moderately disturbed periods.

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