Topside Reconnection
It is proposed that reconnection would be a main mechanism governing the plasma processes on auroral time scales in the topside ionosphere/high-latitude magnetosphere transition. It occurs in the downward current region between two narrow parallel closely spaced though separated downward current she...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-10-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Physics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fphy.2020.586082/full |
| Summary: | It is proposed that reconnection would be a main mechanism governing the plasma processes on auroral time scales in the topside ionosphere/high-latitude magnetosphere transition. It occurs in the downward current region between two narrow parallel closely spaced though separated downward current sheets. The field-aligned currents are carried by upward cold upper-ionospheric electrons closing the upward current in an adjacent region. This local process does primarily not affect the ambient field but generates an anomalous diffusivity. |
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| ISSN: | 2296-424X |