Mode Conversion and Anomalous Transport in Kelvin-Helmholtz Vortices and Kinetic Alfvén Waves at the Earth’s Magnetopause
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Author/Creator ORCID
Date
2007-10-26
Type of Work
Department
Program
Citation of Original Publication
Chaston, C. C., M. Wilber, F. S. Mozer, M. Fujimoto, M. L. Goldstein, M. Acuna, H. Reme, and A. Fazakerley. “Mode Conversion and Anomalous Transport in Kelvin-Helmholtz Vortices and Kinetic Alfv\’en Waves at the Earth’s Magnetopause.” Physical Review Letters 99, no. 17 (October 26, 2007): 175004. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.175004.
Rights
This work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
Public Domain Mark 1.0
Public Domain Mark 1.0
Subjects
Abstract
Observations at the Earth’s magnetopause identify mode conversion from surface to kinetic Alfvén waves at the Alfvén resonance. Kinetic Alfvén waves radiate into the magnetosphere from the resonance with parallel scales up to the order of the geomagnetic field-line length and spectral energy densities obeying a
k⁻².⁴
power law. Amplitudes at the Alfvén resonance are sufficient to both demagnetize ions across the magnetopause and provide field-aligned electron bursts. These waves provide diffusive transport across the magnetopause sufficient for boundary layer formation.