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Disruption of the magnetotail current sheet observed by AMPTE/CCE
Author(s) -
Takahashi K.,
Zanetti L. J.,
Lopez R. E.,
McEntire R. W.,
Potemra T. A.,
Yumoto K.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/gl014i010p01019
Subject(s) - substorm , physics , current sheet , magnetosphere , plasma sheet , geophysics , amplitude , magnetic field , local time , oscillation (cell signaling) , spacecraft , geostationary orbit , geodesy , astrophysics , geology , astronomy , magnetohydrodynamics , satellite , statistics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , biology , genetics
The Active Magnetospheric Particle Tracer Explorers/Charge Composition Explorer (AMPTE/CCE), with a small inclination of 4.8° and an apogee of ∼8.8 R E , is capable of exploring the dynamical behavior of the near‐earth magnetotail current sheet during substorms. At ∼1153 UT on day 240 (August 28), 1986, the spacecraft was on the midplane of the magnetotail near midnight (∼23.4 h LT) at a radial distance of ∼8 R E , when the onset of a substorm took place. The magnetic field data for the ∼3.5‐min interval following the onset indicated a variation of the magnetic field that has not been observed by geostationary satellites or by other spacecraft flown in the near‐earth tail ( r ≲ 20 R E ). The variation was characterized by a large‐amplitude (from less than 10 nT to greater than 40 nT) oscillation of the total field with a period of ∼13 s and also by southward turning of the field during most cycles of the oscillation. At times the magnetic field became strongly southward, and in a few measurements the magnitude of the southward component exceeded 20 nT. The level of high‐frequency perturbations (periods shorter than ∼10 s) was also enchanced during the event. The observations may be due to the formation of an X‐type neutral line and its motion near the spacecraft.