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Lavraud et al. 2002

Lavraud, B., Dunlop, M.W., Phan, T.D., Rème, H., Bosqued, J.-M., Dandouras, I., Sauvaud, J.-A., Lundin, R., Taylor, M.G.G.T., Cargill, P.J., Mazelle, C., Escoubet, C.P., Carlson, C.W., McFadden, J.P., Parks, G.K., Moebius, E., Kistler, L.M., Bavassano-Cattaneo, M.-B., Korth, A., Klecker, B. and Balogh, A. (2002). Cluster observations of the exterior cusp and its surrounding boundaries under northward IMF. Geophysical Research Letters 29: doi: 10.1029/2002GL015464. issn: 0094-8276.

We have studied in detail multi-spacecraft observations of the exterior cusp on 04 February 2001, during a steady northward Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) interval. At a radial distance of 11 Re, Cluster encountered a well-bounded region where the magnetic field exhibited very low diamagnetic values and the ions displayed high levels of isotropisation. We refer to this region as the Stagnant Exterior Cusp (SEC). Its equatorward edge is magnetopause like, whereas on the poleward side of the SEC, high-speed plasma jets were observed consistent with a reconnection site poleward of the cusp. The SEC/magnetosheath boundary is characterized by abrupt changes in the magnetic field and plasma parameters that satisfy the Wal¿n test, and by an S-shaped magnetic hodogram. The latter may suggest the presence of an intermediate/slow transition.

BACKGROUND DATA FILES

	Abstract

Keywords
Magnetospheric Physics, Magnetopause, cusp, and boundary layers, Magnetospheric Physics, Solar wind/magnetosphere interactions, Interplanetary Physics, Discontinuities

Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/

Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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