FAST – CLUSTER conjunctions above the auroral oval

O. Marghitu (1, 2), A. Blăgău (2, 1), B. Klecker (2), M. Bouhram (2), J.P. McFadden (3), E. Möbius (4), L.M. Kistler (4),

H. Rème (5), I. Dandouras (5), and J.A. Sauvaud (5)

(1) Institute for Space Sciences, Bucharest, Romania(2) Max-Planck-Institut für extraterr. Physik, Garching, Germany(3) Space Sciences Lab., Univ. of California at Berkeley, US(4) Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, US(5) CESR – CNRS, Toulouse, France

Content

1. Conjunctions´ selection

2. Evening conjunctions

3. Morning conjunctions

4. Summary

5. Prospects

1. Conjunctions´ Selection

Id Date UT ILAT MLT F.Alt. C.Alt. A 01.10.01 21:27 –68 22 3000 116000 B 26.09.01 21:51 –68 22.5 3300 116500 C 13.01.01 18:15 –74 20 2400 116500

A 25.10.02 14:59 –75 9.5 3550 33500 B 16.10.02 02:12 –83.5 10.5 3600 36000 C 13.11.02 14:26 –80 8.5 2700 42000 D 25.11.02 13:28 –72.5 7.5 1800 32500

•SSCWeb / Query (http://sscweb.gsfc.nasa.gov):•Time interval: January 1, 2001 – January 31, 2003•Conjunction condition: 3o x 10o (GMLat x GMLon) 350 x 350 km2

•Model magnetic field: IGRF + Tsyganenko89 (Kp = 3)

•The ~800 conjunctions were scanned for events:•Energetic electrons (E 1keV) detected at FAST

•Result: some 25 events. Here we will show data for 7 conjunctions, 3 in the evening sector, with CLUSTER close to apogee, and 4 in the morning sector, with CLUSTER at medium altitude (5 – 7 RE):

2. Evening Conjunctions: AFAST

CLUSTER World Data Center, Kyoto:http://swdcdb.kugi.kyoto-u.ac.jp

2. Evening Conjunctions: B

2. Evening Conjunctions: C

3. Morning Conjunctions: A

3. Morning Conjunctions: B

3. Morning Conjunctions: C

3. Morning Conjunctions: D

4. Summary and Conclusions

•FAST electron and CLUSTER ion data examined for 7 conjunctions, 3 on the evening and 4 on the morning side, during relatively quiet or moderately disturbed conditions•Structures observed in the FAST data, on ~1min time scale seem to be related to structures seen in CLUSTER data, on ~1h time scale•On the evening side it is tempting to consider that CLUSTER crosses the arc generator region•On the morning side the filaments of enhanced fluxes suggest multiple particle injections, that might be related to patchy reconnection.

5. Prospects

•Quantitative evaluation of the correlation between FAST and CLUSTER data

•FA current calculated from FAST and CLUSTER data

•On the morning side:•Check for FA potential drop – compare CLUSTER ion and FAST electron average energies•Magnetosphere – ionosphere mapping