Simultaneous field-aligned currents at Swarm and Cluster satellites

M. W. Dunlop; J. Y. Yang; Y. Y. Yang; C. Xiong; H. Lühr; Y. V. Bogdanova; C. Shen; N. Olsen; Q. H. Zhang; J. B. Cao

doi:10.1002/2015GL063738

Simultaneous field-aligned currents at Swarm and Cluster satellites

M. W. Dunlop, J. Y. Yang, Y. Y. Yang, C. Xiong, H. Lühr, Y. V. Bogdanova, C. Shen, N. Olsen, Q. H. Zhang, J. B. Cao

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Abstract

We show for the first time, with direct, multispacecraft calculations of electric current density, and other methods, matched signatures of field-aligned currents (FACs) sampled simultaneously near the ionosphere at low (∼500km altitude) orbit and in the magnetosphere at medium (similar to 2.5 R_E altitude) orbits using a particular Swarm and Cluster conjunction. The Cluster signatures are interpreted and ordered through joint mapping of the ground/magnetospheric footprints and estimation of the auroral zone boundaries (taken as indication of the boundaries of Region 1 and Region 2 currents). We find clear evidence of both small-scale and large-scale FACs and clear matching of the behavior and structure of the large-scale currents at both Cluster and Swarm. The methodology is made possible through the joint operations of Cluster and Swarm, which contain, in the first several months of Swarm operations, a number of close three-spacecraft configurations.

Original language	English
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	42
Issue number	10
Pages (from-to)	3683-3691
ISSN	0094-8276
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL063738
Publication status	Published - 2015

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©2015. The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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title = "Simultaneous field-aligned currents at Swarm and Cluster satellites",

abstract = "We show for the first time, with direct, multispacecraft calculations of electric current density, and other methods, matched signatures of field-aligned currents (FACs) sampled simultaneously near the ionosphere at low (∼500km altitude) orbit and in the magnetosphere at medium (similar to 2.5 RE altitude) orbits using a particular Swarm and Cluster conjunction. The Cluster signatures are interpreted and ordered through joint mapping of the ground/magnetospheric footprints and estimation of the auroral zone boundaries (taken as indication of the boundaries of Region 1 and Region 2 currents). We find clear evidence of both small-scale and large-scale FACs and clear matching of the behavior and structure of the large-scale currents at both Cluster and Swarm. The methodology is made possible through the joint operations of Cluster and Swarm, which contain, in the first several months of Swarm operations, a number of close three-spacecraft configurations.",

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T1 - Simultaneous field-aligned currents at Swarm and Cluster satellites

AU - Dunlop, M. W.

AU - Yang, J. Y.

AU - Yang, Y. Y.

AU - Xiong, C.

AU - Lühr, H.

AU - Bogdanova, Y. V.

AU - Shen, C.

AU - Olsen, N.

AU - Zhang, Q. H.

AU - Cao, J. B.

N1 - ©2015. The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - We show for the first time, with direct, multispacecraft calculations of electric current density, and other methods, matched signatures of field-aligned currents (FACs) sampled simultaneously near the ionosphere at low (∼500km altitude) orbit and in the magnetosphere at medium (similar to 2.5 RE altitude) orbits using a particular Swarm and Cluster conjunction. The Cluster signatures are interpreted and ordered through joint mapping of the ground/magnetospheric footprints and estimation of the auroral zone boundaries (taken as indication of the boundaries of Region 1 and Region 2 currents). We find clear evidence of both small-scale and large-scale FACs and clear matching of the behavior and structure of the large-scale currents at both Cluster and Swarm. The methodology is made possible through the joint operations of Cluster and Swarm, which contain, in the first several months of Swarm operations, a number of close three-spacecraft configurations.

AB - We show for the first time, with direct, multispacecraft calculations of electric current density, and other methods, matched signatures of field-aligned currents (FACs) sampled simultaneously near the ionosphere at low (∼500km altitude) orbit and in the magnetosphere at medium (similar to 2.5 RE altitude) orbits using a particular Swarm and Cluster conjunction. The Cluster signatures are interpreted and ordered through joint mapping of the ground/magnetospheric footprints and estimation of the auroral zone boundaries (taken as indication of the boundaries of Region 1 and Region 2 currents). We find clear evidence of both small-scale and large-scale FACs and clear matching of the behavior and structure of the large-scale currents at both Cluster and Swarm. The methodology is made possible through the joint operations of Cluster and Swarm, which contain, in the first several months of Swarm operations, a number of close three-spacecraft configurations.

U2 - 10.1002/2015GL063738

DO - 10.1002/2015GL063738

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0094-8276

VL - 42

SP - 3683

EP - 3691

JO - Geophysical Research Letters

JF - Geophysical Research Letters

IS - 10

ER -

Simultaneous field-aligned currents at Swarm and Cluster satellites

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