Observations of the step-like accelerating processes of cold ions in the reconnection layer at the dayside magnetopause

Zhang, Q.-H., Lockwood, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7397-2172, Foster, J. C., Zong, Q.-G., Dunlop, M. W., Zhang, S.-R., Moen, J. and Zhang, B.-C. (2018) Observations of the step-like accelerating processes of cold ions in the reconnection layer at the dayside magnetopause. Science Bulletin, 63 (1). pp. 31-37. ISSN 20959273 doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2018.01.003

Abstract/Summary

Cold ions of plasmaspheric origin have been observed to abundantly appear in the magnetospheric side of the Earth’s magnetopause. These cold ions could affect the magnetic reconnection processes at the magnetopause by changing the Alfvén velocity and the reconnection rate, while they could also be heated in the reconnection layer during the ongoing reconnections. We report in situ observations from a partially crossing of a reconnection layer near the subsolar magnetopause. During this crossing, step-like accelerating processes of the cold ions were clearly observed, suggesting that the inflow cold ions may be separately accelerated by the rotation discontinuity and slow shock inside the reconnection layer.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/74750
Identification Number/DOI	10.1016/j.scib.2018.01.003
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology
Publisher	Elsevier
Publisher Statement	Published online (uncorrected proofs) at http://www.sciencedirect.com.dblibweb.rdg.ac.uk:4000/science/article/pii/S2095927318300033
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