Journal article
Cusp Ion Dispersions and Their Relation to the Dayside Magnetic Reconnection Location: TRACERS First Results
Journal of geophysical research : Space physics (2013 - Present), Vol.131(8), e2026JA035586
08/2026
DOI: 10.1029/2026JA035586
Abstract
A key process in solar‐terrestrial interactions is magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause. In addition to in situ observations of plasma entry at the magnetopause, some of the important global aspects of magnetic reconnection are addressed using plasma observations in the Earth's magnetospheric cusp region. Ions injected at the magnetopause are subject to a time‐of‐flight effect, which results in distinctive ion‐energy dispersions observed in the cusp. The shape of these ion dispersions is analyzed and linked with predictions of the magnetopause reconnection location from the maximum magnetic shear model to determine the plasma entry points at the magnetopause. This study determines how those plasma entry locations affect the observed cusp ion dispersion profiles. This study uses first observations from the Analyzers for Cusp Ions (ACIs) onboard the Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites spacecraft. Key Points Tandem reconnection and cusp electrodynamics reconnaissance satellites observes a series of structured ion distributions in the northern magnetospheric cusp The cusp ion structures are linked to spatially separated locations along the dayside X‐line Spatially separated reconnection locations along the X‐line show temporal reconnection behavior
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Cusp Ion Dispersions and Their Relation to the Dayside Magnetic Reconnection Location: TRACERS First Results
- Creators
- K. J. Trattner - University of Colorado BoulderS. M. Petrinec - Lockheed Martin (United States)S. A. Fuselier - Southwest Research InstituteJ. W. Bonnell - University of California, BerkeleyS. R. Bounds - University of IowaB. L. Burkholder - Goddard Space Flight CenterI. H. Cairns - The University of SydneyL.‐J. Chen - Goddard Space Flight CenterI. W. Christopher - University of IowaH. K. Connor - Goddard Space Flight CenterJ. C. Dorelli - Goddard Space Flight CenterR. G. Gomez - Southwest Research InstituteK. Goodrich - West Virginia UniversityB. Michotte de Welle - Goddard Space Flight CenterD. M. Miles - University of IowaM. Oieroset - University of CaliforniaJ. S. Halekas - University of IowaS. A. Henderson - University of IowaG. Hospodarsky - University of Iowa, Physics and AstronomyJ. Labelle - Dartmouth CollegeS. L. Soni - University of IowaR. Strangeway - University of California, Los AngelesD. Sur - Goddard Space Flight Center
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of geophysical research : Space physics (2013 - Present), Vol.131(8), e2026JA035586
- DOI
- 10.1029/2026JA035586
- ISSN
- 2169-9380
- eISSN
- 2169-9402
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Number of pages
- 13
- Grant note
- International Space Science Institute National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80GSFC18C0008)
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 08/2026
- Academic Unit
- Physics and Astronomy
- Record Identifier
- 9985220842702771
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