Open AccessStructure of the Hall current system in the vicinity of the magnetic reconnection site
Author(s) -
Nagai T.,
Shinohara I.,
Fujimoto M.,
Machida S.,
Nakamura R.,
Saito Y.,
Mukai T.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2003ja009900
Subject(s) - substorm , magnetic reconnection , physics , current sheet , current (fluid) , magnetic field , plasma sheet , geophysics , astrophysics , magnetohydrodynamics , magnetosphere , quantum mechanics , thermodynamics
The spacecraft Geotail has observed the Hall current system in the vicinity of the magnetic reconnection site of the near‐Earth magnetotail for substorm onsets. In the outermost region near the plasma sheet/tail lobe boundary, field‐aligned currents flow out of the magnetic reconnection site. In the adjacent region, just inside the outflowing current layer, field‐aligned currents flow into the magnetic reconnection site. Hence, the Hall current circuit forms a thin double‐sheet structure near the separatrix layer.