Science Opportunities in the TRACERS Back Orbit: Ionospheric Signatures of Magnetotail Reconnection

J. C. Dorelli; R. Friedel; L.-J. Chen; H. Connor; D. Miles; S. Fuselier; S. Petrinec; C. A. Kletzing; V. Angelopoulos; J. Bonnell; S. Bounds; N. Buzulukova; C. C. Chaston; I. Christopher; D. da Silva; J. Gjerloev; J. Halekas; M. Hesse; G. Hospodarsky; W Lotko; Y.-H. Liu; M. Oieroset; A Runov; T. Sotirelis; R. Strangeway

doi:10.1007/s11214-026-01270-1

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Science Opportunities in the TRACERS Back Orbit: Ionospheric Signatures of Magnetotail Reconnection

J. C. Dorelli, R. Friedel, L.-J. Chen, H. Connor, D. Miles, S. Fuselier, S. Petrinec, C. A. Kletzing, V. Angelopoulos, J. Bonnell, …

Space science reviews, Vol.222(2), 22

02/24/2026

DOI: 10.1007/s11214-026-01270-1

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Abstract

The primary scientific objective of the TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Reconnaissance Satellites) mission is to understand the spatial structure and temporal evolution of dayside magnetopause reconnection. TRACERS will accomplish this objective by making high time resolution observations with two closely separated (by about 10–120 seconds along track) satellites sun-synchronously orbiting at an altitude of about 590 km. The TRACERS team has defined a dayside “Region of Interest” (ROI) that maximizes the probable number of cusp crossings during its 1 year prime mission. While the TRACERS instruments will be operating at high cadence throughout the orbit, only data collected during the Region of Interest (about 8 minutes of the 90 minute orbit) will be stored at this high time resolution on board and downlinked for analysis on the ground. Outside of the Region of Interest, in the “Back Orbit”, the high time resolution data will be averaged or decimated by the Central Data Processing Unit before being stored for future downlink. Thus, with additional ground contacts, it may be possible to downlink high resolution data collected in the Back Orbit. Further, while TRACERS has been designed to be favorably magnetically aligned during the northern summer hemisphere cusp ROI, its spin axis will also be aligned with the magnetic field in the southern winter hemisphere nightside auroral zone. This raises the possibility that TRACERS could encounter thousands of nightside auroral zone precipitation events associated with magnetotail reconnection. In this paper, we review some of the outstanding science questions that the Heliophysics community could address using TRACERS data in the nightside auroral zone.

Physics

Planetology

Aerospace Technology and Astronautics

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Astrophysics and Astroparticles

Physics and Astronomy

Space Exploration and Astronautics

Space Sciences (including Extraterrestrial Physics

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Title: Subtitle: Science Opportunities in the TRACERS Back Orbit: Ionospheric Signatures of Magnetotail Reconnection
Creators: J. C. Dorelli - Goddard Space Flight Center
R. Friedel - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
L.-J. Chen - Goddard Space Flight Center
H. Connor - Goddard Space Flight Center
D. Miles - University of Iowa
S. Fuselier - The University of Texas at San Antonio
S. Petrinec - Lockheed Martin (United States)
C. A. Kletzing - University of Iowa
V. Angelopoulos - University of California, Los Angeles
J. Bonnell - University of California, Berkeley
S. Bounds - University of Iowa
N. Buzulukova - Goddard Space Flight Center
C. C. Chaston - University of California, Berkeley
I. Christopher - University of Iowa
D. da Silva - Goddard Space Flight Center
J. Gjerloev - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
J. Halekas - University of Iowa
M. Hesse - Ames Research Center
G. Hospodarsky - University of Iowa
W Lotko - NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research
Y.-H. Liu - Dartmouth College
M. Oieroset - University of California, Berkeley
A Runov - University of California, Los Angeles
T. Sotirelis - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
R. Strangeway - University of California, Los Angeles
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Space science reviews, Vol.222(2), 22
DOI: 10.1007/s11214-026-01270-1
ISSN: 0038-6308
eISSN: 1572-9672
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Grant note: NASA
Language: English
Date published: 02/24/2026
Academic Unit: Physics and Astronomy
Record Identifier: 9985139314502771

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