The Inertia‐Based Model for Reconstruction of the Electron Diffusion Region. Issue 5 (14th May 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Korovinskiy, D. B.; Kiehas, S. A.; Panov, E. V.; Semenov, V. S.; Erkaev, N. V.; Divin, A. V.; Kubyshkin, I. V.
• Is Part Of: Journal of geophysical research. Volume 126:Issue 5(2021)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2021-05-14
• Subjects: Magnetospheric physics -- Periodicals; Space environment -- Periodicals; Cosmic physics -- Periodicals; Planets -- Atmospheres -- Periodicals; Heliosphere (Astrophysics) -- Periodicals; Geophysics -- Periodicals; 523.01
• DOI: 10.1029/2020JA029045
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2169-9380

Abstract

Abstract: The present study is focused on the problem of reconstruction of the magnetic configuration in the magnetic reconnection electron diffusion region (EDR). The problem is addressed in the frame of electron magnetohydrodynamics with kept electron inertia term. We introduce the new reconstruction model independent of divergence of the electron pressure tensor and reconnection electric field. The model is tested on the magnetotail reconnection event of July 11, 2017 observed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft in the course of crossing the very core part of the reconnection region, the internal EDR. This new model demonstrates considerably better accuracy of the longitudinal electron velocity reconstruction due to the lower sensitivity to the configuration deviation from the two‐dimensional time‐independent model adopted in our study. We suggest also a new technique to estimate the guide field, implementing the reconstruction of magnetic potential of the in‐plane magnetic field and relying on symmetric properties of magnetic reconnection. Plain Language Summary: Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental plasma process responsible for the magnetic field reconfiguration and transforming magnetic energy to kinetic and thermal energy of plasma. In the Earth's magnetosphere, the magnetospheric conditions are monitored by several spacecraft missions. Among them, the NASA Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission is designed for exploring the process of reconnection. On July 11, 2017 at about 22:34 UT MMS was located in the magnetotail at a very fortunate position, intersecting the reconnection region in its very central part, the so‐called electron diffusion region (EDR). Since MMS consists of four identical spacecraft, MMS provides an excellent tool for testing analytical models of reconnection. Taking the data of one probe as the boundary condition for the analytical model, one can compare the results of calculations with other probes data. In the present paper we suggest a new model of EDR, and compare it to the existing one using the data of 2017/07/11 event. This comparison has shown that the electron inertia term plays an important role in the EDR physics; the proper handling of this term allows considerable improvement of the EDR reconstruction accuracy. Key Points: A model for electron diffusion region (EDR) reconstruction in electron magnetohydrodynamics (EMHD) approximation with kept electron inertia is developed Reconstruction of the out‐of‐plane magnetic field is performed independent of the reconnection electric field and pressure anisotropy Reconstruction is applied for self‐consistent estimate of the guide field value and local coordinate system orientation