Multi-Satellite Investigation of Plasma Sheet Flux Rope Formation and Dynamics

该项目将研究地球磁尾中磁通绳的形成和演化。它将解决四个主要问题：(1)磁通绳是由多个x线上的同时磁重联形成的，如果是，是什么决定了重联点的数量？(2)等离子体片中的磁通绳是如何随时间演变的？较小的绳子会合并成较大的绳子吗？或者，内部x线会在大磁绳内部形成，从而产生较小的次级磁绳吗？(3)磁绳的形成和磁亚暴的开始之间是否有联系？(4)近地中性线的位置是否会发生变化？如果是，是什么控制了它？很大一部分数据分析将使用新的数据挖掘工具进行。该项目的这一部分将作为对数据挖掘工具开发人员的分奖。数据挖掘工具将用于自动检测熔断绳。选定事件的详细结构和演化将使用Grad-Shafrov重建--一种假设磁绳的轴是对称轴的二维分析技术。该项目的大部分研究将由职业生涯早期的女科学家进行。她还将与密歇根大学和英国莱斯特大学的空间科学家进行互动。将使用一种创新的数据挖掘技术来建立一个大型磁绳事件数据库，供空间科学界使用。

This project will investigate the formation and evolution of magnetic flux ropes in Earth's magnetotail. It will address four main questions: (1) Are flux ropes formed by simultaneous magnetic reconnection at multiple x-lines and if so what determines the number of reconnection sites? (2) How do flux ropes in the plasma sheet evolve with time? Do smaller ropes coalesce to form larger ones? Or can internal x-lines form inside a large flux rope to generate smaller, secondary ropes? (3) Is there a connection between the onset of the formation of a flux rope and the onset of a magnetic substorm? (4) Does the location of the near-Earth neutral line vary and if so what controls it? A significant part of the data analysis will be done using a new data mining tool. This part of the project will be done as a subaward to the developer of the data mining tool. The data mining tool will be used to automate the detection of flux ropes. The detailed structure and evolution of selected events will be done using a Grad-Shafranov reconstruction -- a 2-D analysis technique that assumes the axis of the flux rope is an axis of symmetry.Most of the research for this project will be carried out by an early-career woman scientist. She will also be interacting with space scientists at the University of Michigan and at the University of Leicester in the UK. An innovative data mining technique will be used to construct a large database of flux rope events which will be made available to the space science community.