Structure of the Current Sheet in the 11 July 2017 Electron Diffusion Region Event. Issue 2 (27th February 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nakamura, Rumi; Genestreti, Kevin J.; Nakamura, Takuma; Baumjohann, Wolfgang; Varsani, Ali; Nagai, Tsugunobu; Bessho, Naoki; Burch, James L.; Denton, Richard E.; Eastwood, Jonathan P.; Ergun, Robert E.; Gershman, Daniel J.; Giles, Barbara L.; Hasegawa, Hiroshi; Hesse, Michael; Lindqvist, Per‐Arne; Russell, Christopher T.; Stawarz, Julia E.; Strangeway, Robert J.; Torbert, Roy B.
• Is Part Of: Journal of geophysical research. Volume 124:Issue 2(2019)
• Page Start: 1173
• Page End: 1186
• Publication Date: 2019-02-27
• Subjects: magnetic reconnection -- electron diffusion region -- current sheet -- Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS); Magnetospheric physics -- Periodicals; Space environment -- Periodicals; Cosmic physics -- Periodicals; Planets -- Atmospheres -- Periodicals; Heliosphere (Astrophysics) -- Periodicals; Geophysics -- Periodicals; 523.01
• DOI: 10.1029/2018JA026028
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2169-9380

Abstract

Abstract: The structure of the current sheet along the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) orbit is examined during the 11 July 2017 Electron Diffusion Region (EDR) event. The location of MMS relative to the X‐line is deduced and used to obtain the spatial changes in the electron parameters. The electron velocity gradient values are used to estimate the reconnection electric field sustained by nongyrotropic pressure. It is shown that the observations are consistent with theoretical expectations for an inner EDR in 2‐D reconnection. That is, the magnetic field gradient scale, where the electric field due to electron nongyrotropic pressure dominates, is comparable to the gyroscale of the thermal electrons at the edge of the inner EDR. Our approximation of the MMS observations using a steady state, quasi‐2‐D, tailward retreating X‐line was valid only for about 1.4 s. This suggests that the inner EDR is localized; that is, electron outflow jet braking takes place within an ion inertia scale from the X‐line. The existence of multiple events or current sheet processes outside the EDR may play an important role in the geometry of reconnection in the near‐Earth magnetotail. Plain Language Summary: Magnetic reconnection is the process by which magnetic field lines coming from one region are broken and reconnected with magnetic field lines coming from another region. The simplest descriptions of magnetic reconnection are two dimensional, and a number of theoretical predictions have been made using the two‐dimensional assumption. We study a magnetic reconnection event observed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft on 11 July 2017 and find approximate agreement between the observations and the predictions of a two‐dimensional model. The agreement includes the scale size of the reconnection region, details of the particle orbits, and the rate of reconnection. Key Points: Current sheet structure in electron diffusion region is deduced using multipoint measurements from MMS to infer reconnection parameters Rate of electron acceleration along the out‐of‐plane electric field is consistent with theory of meandering electrons in 2‐D reconnection Consistency with 2‐D reconnection theory is found in reconnection electric field from electron pressure gradient and spatial extent of EDR