Engineering topics

Wilder, F. D.

Publications and source records attributed to Wilder, F. D..

14 records

NASA NTRS2018

Generation of Electron Whistler Waves at the Mirror Mode Magnetic Holes: MMS Observations and PIC Simulation

The Magnetospheric Multiscale mission has observed electron whistler waves at the center and at the edges of magnetic holes in the dayside magnetosheath. The magnetic holes are nonlinear mirror structures since their magnitude is anticorrelated with particle density. In this article, we examine the growth mechanisms of these whistler waves and their interaction with the host magnetic hole. In the observations, as magnetic holes develop and get deeper, an electron population gets trapped and develops a temperature anisotropy favorable for whistler waves to be generated. In addition, the decrease in magnetic field magnitude and the increase in density reduce the electron resonance energy, which promotes the electron cyclotron resonance. To investigate this process, we used expanding box particle-in-cell simulations to produce the mirror instability, which then evolve into magnetic holes. The simulation shows that whistler waves can be generated at the center and edges of magnetic holes, which reproduces the primary features of the MMS observations. The simulation shows that the electron temperature anisotropy develops in the center of the magnetic hole once the mirror instability reaches its nonlinear stage of evolution. The plasma is then unstable to whistler waves at the minimum of the magnetic field structures. In the saturation regime of mirror instability, when magnetic holes are developed, the electron temperature anisotropy appears at the edges of the holes and electron distributions become more isotropic at the magnetic field minimum. At the edges, the expansion of magnetic holes decelerates the electrons, which leads to temperature anisotropies.

Magnetospheric Multiscale↗

NASA NTRS2018

The Role of the Parallel Electric Field in Electron-Scale Dissipation at Reconnecting Currents in the Magnetosheath

We report observations from the Magnetospheric Multiscale satellites of reconnecting current sheets in the magnetosheath over a range of outofplane "guide" magnetic field strengths. The currents exhibit nonideal energy conversion in the electron frame of reference, and the events are within the ion diffusion region within close proximity (a few electron skin depths) to the electron diffusion region. The study focuses on energy conversion on the electron scale only. At low guide field (antiparallel reconnection), electric fields and currents perpendicular to the magnetic field dominate the energy conversion. Additionally, electron distributions exhibit significant nongyrotropy. As the guide field increases, the electric field parallel to the background magnetic field becomes increasingly strong, and the electron nongyrotropy becomes less apparent. We find that even with a guide field less than half the reconnecting field, the parallel electric field and currents dominate the dissipation. This suggests that parallel electric fields are more important to energy conversion in reconnection than previously thought and that at high guide field, the physics governing magnetic reconnection are significantly different from antiparallel reconnection.

Wilder, F. D.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Electron Bulk Acceleration and Thermalization at Earth's Quasiperpendicular Bow Shock

Electron heating at Earth's quasiperpendicular bow shock has been surmised to be due to the combined effects of a quasistatic electric potential and scattering through wave-particle interaction. Here we report the observation of electron distribution functions indicating a new electron heating process occurring at the leading edge of the shock front. Incident solar wind electrons are accelerated parallel to the magnetic field toward downstream, reaching an electron-ion relative drift speed exceeding the electron thermal speed. The bulk acceleration is associated with an electric field pulse embedded in a whistler-mode wave. The high electron-ion relative drift is relaxed primarily through a nonlinear current-driven instability. The relaxed distributions contain a beam traveling toward the shock as a remnant of the accelerated electrons. Similar distribution functions prevail throughout the shock transition layer, suggesting that the observedacceleration and thermalization is essential to the cross-shock electron heating.

Chen, L.-J.↗

NASA NTRS2017

Electron Heating at Kinetic Scales in Magnetosheath Turbulence

We present a statistical study of coherent structures at kinetic scales, using data from the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission in the Earths magnetosheath. We implemented the multi-spacecraft partial variance of increments (PVI) technique to detect these structures, which are associated with intermittency at kinetic scales. We examine the properties of the electron heating occurring within such structures. We find that, statistically, structures with a high PVI index are regions of significant electron heating. We also focus on one such structure, a current sheet, which shows some signatures consistent with magnetic reconnection. Strong parallel electron heating coincides with whistler emissions at the edges of the current sheet.

Chasapis, Alexandros↗

NASA NTRS2016

Observations of Turbulence in a Kelvin-Helmholtz Event on 8 September 2015 by the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission

Spatial and high-time-resolution properties of the velocities, magnetic field, and 3-D electric field within plasma turbulence are examined observationally using data from the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission. Observations from a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI) on the Earth's magnetopause are examined, which both provides a series of repeatable intervals to analyze, giving better statistics, and provides a first look at the properties of turbulence in the KHI. For the first time direct observations of both the high-frequency ion and electron velocity spectra are examined, showing differing ion and electron behavior at kinetic scales. Temporal spectra exhibit power law behavior with changes in slope near the ion gyrofrequency and lower hybrid frequency. The work provides the first observational evidence for turbulent intermittency and anisotropy consistent with quasi two-dimensional turbulence in association with the KHI. The behavior of kinetic-scale intermittency is found to have differences from previous studies of solar wind turbulence, leading to novel insights on the turbulent dynamics in the KHI.

Stawarz, J. E.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Observations of Large-Amplitude, Parallel, Electrostatic Waves Associated with the Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability by the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission

On 8 September 2015, the four Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft encountered a Kelvin-Helmholtz unstable magnetopause near the dusk flank. The spacecraft observed periodic compressed current sheets, between which the plasma was turbulent. We present observations of large-amplitude (up to 100 mVm) oscillations in the electric field. Because these oscillations are purely parallel to the background magnetic field, electrostatic, and below the ion plasma frequency, they are likely to be ion acoustic-like waves. These waves are observed in a turbulent plasma where multiple particle populations are intermittently mixed, including cold electrons with energies less than 10 eV. Stability analysis suggests a cold electron component is necessary for wave growth.

Wilder, F. D.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Energy Limits of Electron Acceleration in the Plasma Sheet During Substorms: A Case Study with the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) Mission

We present multipoint observations of earthward moving dipolarization fronts and energetic particle injections from NASAs Magnetospheric Multiscale mission with a focus on electron acceleration. From a case study during a substorm on 02 August 2015, we find that electrons are only accelerated over a finite energy range, from a lower energy threshold at approx. 7-9 keV up to an upper energy cutoff in the hundreds of keV range. At energies lower than the threshold energy, electron fluxes decrease, potentially due to precipitation by strong parallel electrostatic wavefields or initial sources in the lobes. Electrons at energies higher than the threshold are accelerated cumulatively by a series of impulsive magnetic dipolarization events. This case demonstrates how the upper energy cutoff increases, in this case from approx. 130 keV to >500 keV, with each depolarization/injection during sustained activity. We also present a simple model accounting for these energy limits that reveals that electron energization is dominated by betatron acceleration.

Turner, D. L.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Energetic Electron Acceleration Observed by MMS in the Vicinity of an X-Line Crossing

During the first months of observations, the Magnetospheric Multiscale Fly's Eye Energetic Particle Spectrometer instrument has observed several instances of electron acceleration up to greater than 100 keV while in the vicinity of the dayside reconnection region. While particle acceleration associated with magnetic reconnection has been seen to occur up to these energies in the tail region, it had not yet been reported at the magnetopause. This study reports on observations of electron acceleration up to hundreds of keV that were recorded on 19 September 2015 around 1000 UT, in the midst of an X-line crossing. In the region surrounding the X-line, whistler-mode and broadband electrostatic waves were observed simultaneously with the appearance of highly energetic electrons which exhibited significant energization in the perpendicular direction. The mechanisms by which particles may be accelerated via reconnection-related processes are intrinsic to understanding particle dynamics among a wide range of spatial scales and plasma environments.

Jaynes, A. N.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Magnetospheric Multiscale Observations of the Electron Diffusion Region of Large Guide Field Magnetic Reconnection

We report observations from the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) satellites of a large guide field magnetic reconnection event. The observations suggest that two of the four MMS spacecraft sampled the electron diffusion region, whereas the other two spacecraft detected the exhaust jet from the event. The guide magnetic field amplitude is approximately 4 times that of the reconnecting field. The event is accompanied by a significant parallel electric field (E(sub parallel lines) that is larger than predicted by simulations. The high-speed (approximately 300 km/s) crossing of the electron diffusion region limited the data set to one complete electron distribution inside of the electron diffusion region, which shows significant parallel heating. The data suggest that E(sub parallel lines) is balanced by a combination of electron inertia and a parallel gradient of the gyrotropic electron pressure.

Eriksson, S.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Magnetospheric Multiscale Observations of Large-Amplitude Parallel, Electrostatic Waves Associated with Magnetic Reconnection at the Magnetopause

We report observations from the Magnetospheric Multiscale satellites of large-amplitude, parallel, electrostatic waves associated with magnetic reconnection at the Earth's magnetopause. The observed waves have parallel electric fields (E(sub parallel)) with amplitudes on the order of 100 mV/m and display nonlinear characteristics that suggest a possible net E(sub parallel). These waves are observed within the ion diffusion region and adjacent to (within several electron skin depths) the electron diffusion region. They are in or near the magnetosphere side current layer. Simulation results support that the strong electrostatic linear and nonlinear wave activities appear to be driven by a two stream instability, which is a consequence of mixing cold (less than 10eV) plasma in the magnetosphere with warm (approximately 100eV) plasma from the magnetosheath on a freshly reconnected magnetic field line. The frequent observation of these waves suggests that cold plasma is often present near the magnetopause.

Ergun, R. E.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Magnetospheric Multiscale Satellites Observations of Parallel Electric Fields Associated with Magnetic Reconnection

We report observations from the Magnetospheric Multiscale satellites of parallel electric fields (E (sub parallel)) associated with magnetic reconnection in the subsolar region of the Earth's magnetopause. E (sub parallel) events near the electron diffusion region have amplitudes on the order of 100 millivolts per meter, which are significantly larger than those predicted for an antiparallel reconnection electric field. This Letter addresses specific types of E (sub parallel) events, which appear as large-amplitude, near unipolar spikes that are associated with tangled, reconnected magnetic fields. These E (sub parallel) events are primarily in or near a current layer near the separatrix and are interpreted to be double layers that may be responsible for secondary reconnection in tangled magnetic fields or flux ropes. These results are telling of the three-dimensional nature of magnetopause reconnection and indicate that magnetopause reconnection may be often patchy and/or drive turbulence along the separatrix that results in flux ropes and/or tangled magnetic fields.

Ergun, R. E.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Magnetospheric Multiscale Observations of Magnetic Reconnection Associated with Kelvin-Helmholtz Waves

The four Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft recorded the first direct evidence of reconnection exhausts associated with Kelvln-Helmholtz (KH) waves at the duskside magnetopause on 8 September 2015 which allows for local mass and energy transport across the flank magnetopause. Pressure anisotropy-weighted Walen analyses confirmed in-plane exhausts across 22 of 42 KH-related trailing magnetopause current sheets (CSs). Twenty-one jets were observed by all spacecraft, with small variations in ion velocity, along the same sunward or antisunward direction with nearly equal probability. One exhaust was only observed by the MMS-1,2 pair, while MMS-3,4 traversed a narrow CS (1.5 ion inertial length) in the vicinity of an electron diffusion region. The exhausts were locally 2-D planar in nature as MMS-1, 2 observed almost identical signatures separated along the guide-field. Asymmetric magnetic and electric Hall fields are reported in agreement with a strong guide-field and a weak plasma density asymmetry across the magnetopause CS.

Eriksson, S.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Electron-Scale Measurements of Magnetic Reconnection in Space

Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental physical process in plasmas whereby stored magnetic energy is converted into heat and kinetic energy of charged particles. Reconnection occurs in many astrophysical plasma environments and in laboratory plasmas. Using measurements with very high time resolution, NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission has found direct evidence for electron demagnetization and acceleration at sites along the sunward boundary of Earth's magnetosphere where the interplanetary magnetic field reconnects with the terrestrial magnetic field. We have (i) observed the conversion of magnetic energy to particle energy; (ii) measured the electric field and current, which together cause the dissipation of magnetic energy; and (iii) identified the electron population that carries the current as a result of demagnetization and acceleration within the reconnection diffusion/dissipation region.

Burch, J. L.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Magnetospheric Multiscale Instrument Suite Operations and Data System

The four Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft will collect a combined volume of approximately 100 gigabits per day of particle and field data. On average, only 4 gigabits of that volume can be transmitted to the ground. To maximize the scientific value of each transmitted data segment, MMS has developed the Science Operations Center (SOC) to manage science operations, instrument operations, and selection, downlink, distribution, and archiving of MMS science data sets. The SOC is managed by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) in Boulder, Colorado and serves as the primary point of contact for community participation in the mission. MMS instrument teams conduct their operations through the SOC, and utilize the SOC's Science Data Center (SOC) for data management and distribution. The SOC provides a single mission data archive for the housekeeping and science data, calibration data, ephemerides, attitude and other ancillary data needed to support the scientific use and interpretation. All levels of data products will reside at and be publicly disseminated from the SDC. Documentation and metadata describing data products, algorithms, instrument calibrations, validation, and data quality will be provided. Arguably, the most important innovation developed by the SOC is the MMS burst data management and selection system. With nested automation and 'Scientist-in-the-Loop' (SITL) processes, these systems are designed to maximize the value of the burst data by prioritizing the data segments selected for transmission to the ground. This paper describes the MMS science operations approach, processes and data systems, including the burst system and the SITL concept.

Baker, D. N.↗