Publisher： John Wiley & Sons Inc
E-ISSN： 1944-8007|17|11|1829-1832
ISSN： 0094-8276
Source： GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, Vol.17, Iss.11, 1990-10, pp. : 1829-1832
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Abstract
Convection electric fields, Ec = −Vp×B, measured during a magnetopause/boundary layer encounter at low latitude by the AMPTE/IRM spacecraft, are shown to yield an accurate determination of the magnetopause normal vector, N, even though the magnetic shear across the magnetopause was small. The average plasma velocity along N is used to deduce a boundary layer thickness of about 1.3 RE. Analysis of Ec in the magnetopause itself reveals the existence of a deHoffmann‐Teller frame in which the flow is nearly field aligned and approximately Alfvénic, indicating that the magnetopause was a rotational discontinuity; this is interpreted as a signature that magnetic‐field reconnection was occurring somewhere on the magnetopause.
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