Simultaneous field-aligned currents at Swarm and Cluster satellites
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Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We show for the first time, with direct, multispacecraft calculations of electric current density, and other methods, matched signatures of field-aligned currents (FACs) sampled simultaneously near the ionosphere at low (~500 km altitude) orbit and in the magnetosphere at medium (~2.5 RE altitude) orbits using a particular Swarm and Cluster conjunction. The Cluster signatures are interpreted and ordered through joint mapping of the ground/magnetospheric footprints and estimation of the auroral zone boundaries (taken as indication of the boundaries of Region 1 and Region 2 currents). We find clear evidence of both small-scale and large-scale FACs and clear matching of the behavior and structure of the large-scale currents at both Cluster and Swarm. The methodology is made possible through the joint operations of Cluster and Swarm, which contain, in the first several months of Swarm operations, a number of close three-spacecraft configurations.
Date Issued
2015-05-23
Date Acceptance
2015-04-27
Citation
Geophysical Research Letters, 2015, 42 (10), pp.3683-3691
ISSN
1944-8007
Publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Start Page
3683
End Page
3691
Journal / Book Title
Geophysical Research Letters
Volume
42
Issue
10
Copyright Statement
©2015. The Authors.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Publication Status
Published