Observations of Kelvin‐Helmholtz Waves in the Earth's Magnetotail Near the Lunar Orbit. Issue 5 (23rd May 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ling, Yiming; Shi, Quanqi; Shen, Xiao‐Chen; Tian, Anmin; Li, Wenya; Tang, Binbin; Degeling, A. W.; Hasegawa, Hiroshi; Nowada, Motoharu; Zhang, Hui; Rae, I. J.; Zong, Qiu‐Gang; Fu, Suiyan; Fazakerley, A. N.; Pu, Zuyin
• Is Part Of: Journal of geophysical research. Volume 123:Issue 5(2018)
• Page Start: 3836
• Page End: 3847
• Publication Date: 2018-05-23
• Subjects: Magnetospheric physics -- Periodicals; Space environment -- Periodicals; Cosmic physics -- Periodicals; Planets -- Atmospheres -- Periodicals; Heliosphere (Astrophysics) -- Periodicals; Geophysics -- Periodicals; 523.01
• DOI: 10.1029/2018JA025183
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2169-9380

Abstract

Abstract: Kelvin‐Helmholtz waves (KHWs), which have been widely observed at the magnetopause in the region near the Earth, play an essential role in the transport of solar wind plasma and energy into the magnetosphere under dominantly northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) conditions. In this study, we present simultaneous observations of KHWs under the northward IMF observed by both the Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence, and Electrodynamics of Moon's Interaction with the Sun (ARTEMIS) spacecraft in the Earth's magnetotail around the lunar orbit (at X ~ −50 R E, Y ~ 30 R E, dusk side) and the Geotail in the near‐Earth space (at X ~ −5 R E, Y ~ −10 R E, dawn side). The KHWs are quantitatively characterized by their dominant period, phase velocity, and wavelength, utilizing wavelet analysis and an approximation of their center‐of‐mass velocity. Our results suggest that the phase velocity and spatial scale of KHWs may increase as they propagate along the boundary layer toward the tail. Alternatively, the differences between the ARTEMIS and Geotail observations may indicate the possibility of dawn‐dusk asymmetry in the excited KHWs in this study. Our results strongly evidence the existence of the development of KHWs in terms of their wave frequency and scale size in the magnetotail and provide insight to the time evolution of KHWs along the magnetopause. Key Points: Simultaneous observations of KHWs in the midtail and the near‐Earth space KHWs possibly increase their sizes toward the tail Potential evidence of dawn‐dusk asymmetry in the KHWs