Publication Date:
2011-08-18
Description:
ISEE-3 magnetic-field measurements in the region of the geomagnetic tail from -80 to -220 earth radii are reported and discussed. A well-ordered field structure is found, comprising two 7-8-nT lobes separated by a plasma sheet, an embedded neutral sheet with significant By fields, and an intermittent plasma-sheet boundary layer with 5-nT-amplitude (peak-to-peak) electromagnetic waves. The plasma-sheet Bz distribution changes from principally northern orientation near the earth to an approximately equal north-south distribution at 200-220 earth radii. These findings are considered to be in general agreement with magnetic-reconnection models of the magnetosphere, with reconnection either throughout the region observed (in tearing-mode or plasmoid-formation models) or at a constant (about 220-earth-radii) or variable (40-80 to 220-earth-radii) X line (in X-line models).
Keywords:
GEOPHYSICS
Type:
Geophysical Research Letters (ISSN 0094-8276); 11; 1-4
Format:
text
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