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Magnetic Reconnection inside a Flux Transfer Event-like structure in Magnetopause Kelvin-Helmholtz Waves
  • +25
  • Rungployphan Kieokaew,
  • Benoit Lavraud,
  • C Foullon,
  • S Toledo-Redondo,
  • N Fargette,
  • K.-J Hwang,
  • K Malakit,
  • D Ruffolo,
  • M Øieroset,
  • T D Phan,
  • H Hasegawa,
  • S Fadanelli,
  • L Avanov,
  • J Burch,
  • D J Gershman,
  • B Giles,
  • J Dorelli,
  • V Génot,
  • C Jacquey,
  • T Moore,
  • W Paterson,
  • C Pollock,
  • A Rager,
  • Y Saito,
  • J.-A Sauvaud,
  • C Schiff,
  • Y Vernisse,
  • E Penou
Rungployphan Kieokaew
Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Benoit Lavraud
CNRS
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C Foullon
University of Exeter
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S Toledo-Redondo
Université de Toulouse
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N Fargette
Université de Toulouse
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K.-J Hwang
Southwest Research Institute
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K Malakit
Thammasat University
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D Ruffolo
Mahidol University
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M Øieroset
Space Sciences Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
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T D Phan
Space Sciences Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
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H Hasegawa
JAXA
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S Fadanelli
Université de Toulouse
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L Avanov
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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J Burch
Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, USA
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D J Gershman
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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B Giles
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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J Dorelli
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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V Génot
Université de Toulouse
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C Jacquey
Université de Toulouse
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T Moore
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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W Paterson
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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C Pollock
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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A Rager
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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Y Saito
JAXA
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J.-A Sauvaud
Université de Toulouse
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C Schiff
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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Y Vernisse
Université de Toulouse
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E Penou
Université de Toulouse
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Abstract

Magnetopause Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) waves are believed to mediate solar wind plasma transport via small-scale mechanisms. Vortex-induced reconnection (VIR) was predicted in simulations and recently observed using NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission data. Flux Transfer Events (FTEs) produced by VIR at multiple locations along the periphery of KH waves were also predicted in simulations but detailed observations were still lacking. Here we report MMS observations of an FTE-type structure in a KH wave trailing edge during KH activity on 5 May 2017 on the dawnside flank magnetopause. The structure is characterised by (1) bipolar magnetic BY variation with enhanced core field BZ and (2) enhanced total pressure with dominant magnetic pressure. The cross-section size of the FTE is found to be consistent with vortex-induced flux ropes predicted in the simulations. Unexpectedly, we observe an ion jet (VY), electron parallel heating, ion and electron density enhancements, and other signatures that can be interpreted as a reconnection exhaust at the FTE central current sheet. Moreover, pitch angle distributions of suprathermal electrons on either side of the current sheet show different properties, indicating different magnetic connectivities. This FTE-type structure may thus alternatively be interpreted as two interlaced flux tubes with reconnection at the interface as reported by Kacem et al. (2018) and Øieroset et al. (2019). The structure may be the result of interaction between two flux tubes, likely produced by multiple VIR at the KH wave trailing edge, and constitutes a new class of phenomenon induced by KH waves.
Jun 2020Published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics volume 125 issue 6. 10.1029/2019JA027527