分类： 地球科学 >> 空间物理学 提交时间： 2016-05-12
摘要： Utilizing multipoint observations by the Cluster satellites, we investigated the ion distributions of the fast bulk flows (FBFs) in the plasma sheet. Simultaneous observation by C1 and C3 revealed that parallel-dominant and perpendicular-dominant components of the flows coexist and correspond to B-x-dominant and B-z-dominant magnetic field regions within the FBFs, respectively. In both cases, the ions distributions are characterized by a single-beam/crescent shape. In particular, no reflected ions are found within the FBFs. Statistical analysis showed that within the FBFs, the strength of the B-x component is typically less than 5 nT for B-z-dominant regions and above 10 nT for B-x-dominant regions. To distinguish between the parallel-dominant component of the FBFs and the field-aligned beams in the plasma sheet boundary layer (PSBL), we further statistically analyzed the tailward parallel flows (TPF) with positive B-z in the plasma sheet. The results indicated that the FBFs tend to have higher velocity, weaker B, and higher magnetic tilt angle (theta(MTA)) than the TPFs/PSBL beams. Statistically, in the region of B > 30 nT (theta(MTA) > 10 degrees), only PSBL beams can be observed, while in the region of B 30 degrees), the FBFs are dominant. In the intermediate region (10 degrees < theta(MTA) < 30 degrees) of the plasma sheet, the FBFs and the PSBL beams cooccur. These Cluster observations suggest that the X line can produce both perpendicular flow in central plasma sheet and parallel flow in the PSBL. In addition, the parallel-dominant component of the FBFs could be an important origin for the PSBL beams.
分类： 地球科学 >> 空间物理学 提交时间： 2016-05-12
摘要： Mass is one of the most fundamental parameters characterizing the dynamics of a coronal mass ejection (CME). It has been found that CME apparent mass measured from the brightness enhancement in coronagraphs increases during its evolution in the corona. However, the physics behind it is not clear. Does the apparent mass gain come from the outflow from the dimming regions in the low corona, or from the pileup of the solar wind plasma around the CME? Here we analyze the mass evolution of six CME events. Based on the coronagraph observations from the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, we find that their masses increased by a factor of 1.3-1.7 from 7 to 15 R-S, where the occulting effect is negligible. We then adopt the "snow-plow" model to calculate the mass contribution of the piled-up solar wind. The result gives evidence that the solar wind pileup probably makes a non-negligible contribution to the mass increase. In the height range from about 7 to 15 R-S, the ratio of the modeled to the measured mass increase is roughly larger than 0.55 though the ratios are believed to be overestimated. It is not clear yet whether the solar wind pileup is a major contributor to the final mass derived from coronagraph observations, but it does play an increasingly important role in the mass increase as a CME moves further away from the Sun.
分类： 地球科学 >> 空间物理学 提交时间： 2016-05-12
摘要： We study the role of the coronal magnetic field configuration of an active region (AR) in determining the propagation direction of a coronal mass ejection (CME). The CME occurred in the AR 11944 (S09W01) near the disk center on 2014 January 7 and was associated with an X1.2 flare. A new CME reconstruction procedure based on a polarimetric technique is adopted, which shows that the CME changed its propagation direction by around 28 degrees in latitude within 2.5 R-circle dot and 43 degrees in longitude within 6.5 R-circle dot with respect to the CME source region. This significant non-radial motion is consistent with the finding of Mostl et al. We use nonlinear force-free field and potential field source surface extrapolation methods to determine the configurations of the coronal magnetic field. We also calculate the magnetic energy density distributions at different heights based on the extrapolations. Our results show that the AR coronal magnetic field has a strong influence on the CME propagation direction. This is consistent with the "channeling" by the AR coronal magnetic field itself, rather than deflection by nearby structures. These results indicate that the AR coronal magnetic field configuration has to be taken into account in order to determine CME propagation direction correctly.
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