A survey of flux transfer events recorded by the UKS spacecraft magnetometer
Abstract
The UKS spacecraft operated from August 1984 through to January 1985. During that time, it made multiple crossings of the magnetopause in local time sectors extending from mid-afternoon to just behind the dawn meridian. We have surveyed the magnetometer records from these magnetopause encounters and have compiled a catalogue of flux transfer events (FTEs using criteria identical to those employed by Rijnbeek et al. (1984, J. Geophys. Res.89, 786) in their survey of ISEE spacecraft magnetometer data. Using the catalogue, we find that FTE occurrence determined from the UKS data set is substantially less than that detected using data from the early ISEE1/2 spacecraft orbits. The UKS data set shows a correlation between FTE occurrence and southward external magnetic field, but there are several instances of passes in which no FTEs are detected but for which the external field was unam- biguousluy southward. The passes with the largest number of events are those for which the field outside the magnetopause has a large BM component. We conclude that the lower latitude of the UKS encounters is responsible for the discrepancy with the ISEE occurrence. The most likely source region appears to be near the subsolar region.
- Publication:
-
Planetary and Space Science
- Pub Date:
- December 1986
- DOI:
- 10.1016/0032-0633(86)90071-1
- Bibcode:
- 1986P&SS...34.1349S
- Keywords:
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- Magnetic Field Reconnection;
- Magnetometers;
- Magnetopause;
- Satellite Sounding;
- International Sun Earth Explorers;
- Magnetohydrodynamic Flow;
- Geophysics