MSSL Space Plasma Science Nuggets
- Discovery of the 'Travelling Magnetopause Erosion Region'
- Particle Distributions in the Magnetotail
- Calculating currents from four spacecraft
- What is the source of magnetotail flux-ropes?
- Structure and variability of the auroral acceleration region
- The influence of magnetospheric convection and magnetopause motion on Radiation Belt electrons
- Discovery of the action of a geophysical synchrotron in the Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts
- The detailed spatial structure of ﬁeld-aligned currents comprising the substorm current wedge
- New and improved analytic expressions for ULF wave radiation belt radial diffusion coefﬁcients
- Poleward Boundary Intensifications and Bursty Bulk Flows do not coherently drive the substorm current wedge
- Automated determination of auroral breakup during the substorm expansion phase using all-sky imager data
- High-time-resolution observations of an FTE using Cluster
- Detailed azimuthal structure of the substorm current wedge
- Waves in the ionosphere detected by ground GPS receiver network
- Inner magnetospheric onset preceding reconnection and tail dynamics during substorms: Can substorms initiate in two different regions?
- Increases in plasma sheet temperature with solar wind driving during substorm growth phases
- Origin of polar auroras revealed
- Solar Ejecta through the Heliosphere
- Near-Earth Cosmic Ray Decreases Associated with Remote Coronal Mass Ejections
- The Earth’s foreshock: simulations and in-situ satellite data
- The magnetospheric substorm at Mercury
- Transpolar arc observation after solar wind entry into the high latitude magnetosphere
- Influence of solar wind variability on magnetospheric plasma waves
- Statistical characterisation of the growth and spatial scales of the substorm onset arc
- A physical explanation for the magnetic decrease ahead of dipolarization fronts
Calculating currents from four spacecraft
1 May 2011
Ampere's law tells us that the curl of a magnetic field is proportional to current density. In order to measure the curl of a magnetic field in space, one needs to know approximate the variation of the magnetic field between four non-coplanar points. Such measurements are achieved by the Cluster quartet.
Whilst the overall magnetospheric shape is described by current sheets, many of the dynamic features of the magnetosphere are connected with smaller, field-aligned current systems. These can have a variety of shapes and sizes. In order to understand these current systems, it is necessary to model how Cluster might observe these current systems.
Forsyth et al. (2011) uses infinitely long, circular current tubes over across which the current density varied to investigate how Cluster might observe these current systems and how these observations vary with the relative size of the spacecraft quartet to the current system. Their results show that although currents smaller than the spacecraft quartet are detected, the current density determined varied with the position of the current system through the spacecraft tetrahedron. They also found that the standard indicator of the quality of the curlometer results indicated good values for the determination of the current even when currents were detected outside of the spacecraft tetrahedron. These results highlight the need for care and careful analysis when analysing currents in the magnetosphere.
For more information, see:
Forsyth, C and Lester, M and Fazakerley, AN and Owen, CJ and Walsh, AP (2011) On the effect of line current width and relative position on the multi-spacecraft curlometer technique. PLANET SPACE SCI , 59 (7) 598 - 605 doi:10.1016/j.pss.2009.12.007.
Page last modified on 19 aug 11 18:22