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The position of the magnetotail neutral sheet in the near‐Earth region
Author(s) -
Lopez Ramon E.
Publication year - 1990
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/gl017i010p01617
Subject(s) - earth (classical element) , plasma sheet , geology , position (finance) , geophysics , geodesy , astrobiology , physics , magnetosphere , astronomy , plasma , finance , economics , quantum mechanics
The position of the near‐earth neutral sheet throughout the nightside region between R = 5 R E and R = 8.8 R E is examined statistically using magnetic field data from AMPTE/CCE. As has been demonstrated previously, the latitudinal position of the neutral sheet is primarily controlled by the dipole tilt angle. The position also depends on local time, radial distance, and magnetic activity. These dependencies may be represented by the empirical formula MLAT = − (0.14 Kp + 0.69) [cos(Φ)] 1/3 (0.065 R 0–8 − 0.16) DTA, where MLAT is the position in degrees of the neutral sheet relative to the magnetic equator, Kp is the 3‐hourly magnetic activity index, Φ is the magnetic local time in degrees (midnight = 0°), R is the radius in R E , and DTA is the dipole tilt angle in degrees.