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Siscoe et al. 1994
Siscoe, G.L., Frank, L.A., Ackerson, K.L. and Paterson, W.R. (1994). Irregular, long-period boundary oscillations beyond ~100 Re: GEOTAIL plasma observations. Geophysical Research Letters 21: doi: 10.1029/94GL01602. issn: 0094-8276.

Near the tail boundary beyond about 100 Re, GEOTAIL often measures irregular, long-period oscillations in plasma velocity and density. Flow speed and density oscillate between magnetosheath values and values an order of magnitude less. The oscillations can persist for days. A typical oscillations last 100 minutes, but the range is large. The oscillations are highly asymmetric in that the increasing phase of the oscillation is an order of magnitude faster than the decreasing phase. This asymmetry shows that they are a distinct class of oscillations, not previously explicitly reported, and that they are not mere consequences of tail flapping in a variable solar wind. The changes in flow direction through an oscillation imply that the oscillation results from a motion of the boundary toward and away from the spacecraft with an amplitude between 5 and 10 Re. A consideration of options suggest that the most plausible cause of these oscillations is the ''breathing'' of the magnetotail that attends the substorm cycle. ¿American Geophysical Union 1994

BACKGROUND DATA FILES

Abstract

Keywords
Magnetospheric Physics, Magnetotail, Magnetospheric Physics, Magnetospheric configuration and dynamics, Magnetospheric Physics, Magnetopause, cusp, and boundary layers, Magnetospheric Physics, Magnetosheath
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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