Thin electron‐scale layers at the magnetopause
Open Access
- 4 February 2004
- journal article
- space sciences
- Published by American Geophysical Union (AGU) in Geophysical Research Letters
- Vol. 31 (3)
Abstract
We use data from the four Cluster satellites to examine the microphysics of a thin electron‐scale layer discovered on the magnetospheric side of the magnetopause. Here the ion and electron motions are decoupled in a layer about 20 km (a few electron scales) wide, including currents and strong electric fields. In this layer the electrons are E × B drifting with the ions as a background, and the region can be described by Hall MHD physics. A unique identification of the source of the thin layer is not possible, but our observations are consistent with recent simulations showing thin layers associated with the separatrix extending far away from a reconnection diffusion region.Keywords
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