Multiscale modeling of magnetospheric reconnection

Multiscale modeling of magnetospheric reconnection

[1] In our efforts to bridge the gap between small-scale kinetic modeling and global simulations, we introduced an approach that allows to quantify the interaction between large-scale global magnetospheric dynamics and microphysical processes in diffusion regions near reconnection sites. We use the global MHD code BATS-R-US and replace an ad hoc anomalous resistivity often employed by global MH...

Theory and Modeling for the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission

The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission will provide measurement capabilities, which will exceed those of earlier and even contemporary missions by orders of magnitude. MMS will, for the first time, be able to measure directly and with sufficient resolution key features of the magnetic reconnection process, down to the critical electron scales, which need to be resolved to understand how re...

Magnetospheric reconnection driven by solar wind pressure fronts

Recent work has shown that solar wind dynamic pressure changes can have a dramatic effect on the particle precipitation in the high-latitude ionosphere. It has also been noted that the preexisting interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) orientation can significantly affect the resulting changes in the size, location, and intensity of the auroral oval. Here we focus on the effect of pressure pulses ...

Rippled Quasiperpendicular Shock Observed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale Spacecraft.

Collisionless shock nonstationarity arising from microscale physics influences shock structure and particle acceleration mechanisms. Nonstationarity has been difficult to quantify due to the small spatial and temporal scales. We use the closely spaced (subgyroscale), high-time-resolution measurements from one rapid crossing of Earth's quasiperpendicular bow shock by the Magnetospheric Multiscal...

Multiscale modeling