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Detailed Reference Information |
Teh, W.-L., Sonnerup, B.U.Ö. and Hau, L.-N. (2007). Grad-Shafranov reconstruction with field-aligned flow: First results. Geophysical Research Letters 34: doi: 10.1029/2006GL028802. issn: 0094-8276. |
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Grad-Shafranov (GS) reconstruction is a novel tool for recovering steady two-dimensional (2-D) coherent magnetic field structures from data taken by a single spacecraft. We present first results from a recently developed version of GS reconstruction that incorporates the effects of dynamically significant field-aligned plasma flow. A new GS solver for this case has been developed and is benchmarked with an exact analytical solution. It is then applied to a magnetopause encounter by Cluster 1 (C1) and Cluster 3 (C3) on July 5, 2001. In the C1 crossing, a field-aligned plasma flow, in the frame co-moving with the local magnetopause structures, is present at approximately 57% of the Alfvin speed; in the C3 event the local flow is nearly Alfvinic. We find the following: (1) The recovered field maps are qualitatively similar to those obtained from magneto-hydrostatic GS reconstruction, indicating that the latter can be fairly robust. (2) Our code provides new information about plasma structure and supersonic field-aligned flow effects during reconnection. (3) We confirm results from the previous GS studies of the event, which indicated that significant time evolution occurred in the 30 s time lapse between the two crossings, owing to developing reconnection at a site close to the spacecraft. We provide an estimate of 0.47 mV/m for the reconnection electric field. |
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Abstract |
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Keywords
Magnetospheric Physics, Magnetopause and boundary layers, Magnetospheric Physics, Magnetic reconnection (7526, 7835), Magnetospheric Physics, Solar wind/magnetosphere interactions, Space Plasma Physics, Magnetic reconnection (2723, 7526), Space Plasma Physics, Nonlinear phenomena (4400, 6944) |
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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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