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Detailed Reference Information |
Sandholt, P.E., Farrugia, C.J., Øieroset, M., Stauning, P. and Cowley, S.W.H. (1996). Auroral signature of lobe reconnection. Geophysical Research Letters 23: doi: 10.1029/96GL01846. issn: 0094-8276. |
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We report specific changes in the dayside auroral morphology in the winter hemisphere which occur in response to sharp transitions between northward and southward-directed interplanetary magnetic fields (IMF). In two case examples we show how a switch between large negative and large positive IMF Bz component was accompanied by a corresponding switch in the location of the 630.0 nm aurora: the cusp aurora situated at ≈74¿ MLAT disappeared and another form this time situated at ≈77--78¿ MLAT appeared simultaneously (within 1 min.). We suggest that the lower- and higher-latitude auroras correspond to injections of magnetosheath plasma associated with, respectively, magnetic reconnection at low and high magnetopause latitudes. They may be called cusp/LLBL and cusp/mantle auroras, respectively. According to this interpretation the cusp/mantle aurora thus corresponds to reconnection tailward of the cusp, the so-called lobe reconnection. The auroral signature is observed to last for a few tens of minutes, indicating that lobe reconnection can occur in a quasi-steady mode. During the 17 December 1992 case event sunward plasma convection in the polar cap was inferred from magnetometer records obtained during the period when the high-latitude aurora occurred. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1996 |
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Abstract |
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Keywords
Magnetospheric Physics, Magnetopause, cusp, and boundary layers, Magnetospheric Physics, Solar wind/magnetosphere interactions |
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Publisher
American Geophysical Union 2000 Florida Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009-1277 USA 1-202-462-6900 1-202-328-0566 service@agu.org |
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