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 (∼500km altitude) orbit and in the magnetosphere at medium (similar to 2.5 R E 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.
Simultaneous field-aligned currents at Swarm and Cluster satellites
2015-01-01
Dunlop , M W , Yang , J Y , Yang , Y Y , Xiong , C , Lühr , H , Bogdanova , Y V , Shen , C , Olsen , N , Zhang , Q H & Cao , J B 2015 , ' Simultaneous field-aligned currents at Swarm and Cluster satellites ' , Geophysical Research Letters , vol. 42 , no. 10 , pp. 3683-3691 . https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL063738
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
DDC: | 629 |
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