Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Panov EV
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5131847 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Panov E V EV Baumjohann W W Wolf R A RA Nakamura R R Angelopoulos V V Weygand J M JM Kubyshkina M V MV
Nature physics 20160912 12
Violent releases of space plasma energy from the Earth's magnetotail during substorms produce strong electric currents and bright aurora. But what modulates these currents and aurora and controls dissipation of the energy released in the ionosphere? Using data from the THEMIS fleet of satellites and ground-based imagers and magnetometers, we show that plasma energy dissipation is controlled by field-aligned currents (FACs) produced and modulated during magnetotail topology change and oscillatory ...[more]