scholarly journals Two-Dimensional Structure of Flow Channels and Associated Upward Field-Aligned Currents: Model and Observations

Author(s):  
Larry. R. Lyons ◽  
Yukitoshi Nishimura ◽  
Chih-Ping Wang ◽  
Jiang Liu ◽  
William. A. Bristow

Flow bursts are a major component of transport within the plasma sheet and auroral oval (where they are referred to as flow channels), and lead to a variety of geomagnetic disturbances as they approach the inner plasma sheet (equatorward portion of the auroral oval). However, their two-dimensional structure as they approach the inner plasma sheet has received only limited attention. We have examined this structure using both the Rice Convection Model (RCM) and ground-based radar and all sky imager observations. As a result of the energy dependent magnetic drift, the low entropy plasma of a flow burst spreads azimuthally within the inner plasma sheet yielding specific predictions of subauroral polarization stream (SAPS) and dawnside auroral polarization stream (DAPS) enhancements that are related to the field-aligned currents associated with the flow channel. Flow channels approximately centered between the dawn and dusk large-scale convection cells are predicted to give significant enhancements of both SAPS and DAPS, whereas flow channel further toward the dusk (dawn) convection cell show a far more significant enhancement of SAPS (DAPS) than for DAPS (SAPS). We present observations for cases having good coverage of flow channels as they approach the equatorward portion of the auroral oval and find very good qualitative agreement with the above RCM predictions, including the predicted differences with respect to flow burst location. Despite there being an infinite variety of flow channels’ plasma parameters and of background plasma sheet and auroral oval conditions, the observations show the general trends predicted by the RCM simulations with the idealized parameters. This supports that RCM predictions of the azimuthal spread of a low-entropy plasma sheet plasma and its associated FAC and flow responses give a realistic physical description of the structure of plasma sheet flow bursts (auroral oval flow channels) as they reach the inner plasma sheet (near the equatorward edge of the auroral oval).

2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. L. Parkinson ◽  
J. A. Wild ◽  
C. L. Waters ◽  
M. Lester ◽  
E. A. Lucek ◽  
...  

Abstract. An auroral westward flow channel (AWFC) is a latitudinally narrow channel of unstable F-region plasma with intense westward drift in the dusk-to-midnight sector ionosphere. AWFCs tend to overlap the equatorward edge of the auroral oval, and their life cycle is often synchronised to that of substorms: they commence close to substorm expansion phase onset, intensify during the expansion phase, and then decay during the recovery phase. Here we define for the first time the relationship between an AWFC, large-scale field-aligned current (FAC), the ring current, and plasmapause location. The Tasman International Geospace Environment Radar (TIGER), a Southern Hemisphere HF SuperDARN radar, observed a jet-like AWFC during ~08:35 to 13:28 UT on 7 April 2001. The initiation of the AWFC was preceded by a band of equatorward expanding ionospheric scatter (BEES) which conveyed an intense poleward electric field through the inner plasma sheet. Unlike previous AWFCs, this event was not associated with a distinct substorm surge; rather it occurred during an interval of persistent, moderate magnetic activity characterised by AL~−200 nT. The four Cluster spacecraft had perigees within the dusk sector plasmasphere, and their trajectories were magnetically conjugate to the radar observations. The Waves of High frequency and Sounder for Probing Electron density by Relaxation (WHISPER) instruments on board Cluster were used to identify the plasmapause location. The Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) EUV experiment also provided global-scale observations of the plasmapause. The Cluster fluxgate magnetometers (FGM) provided successive measurements specifying the relative location of the ring current and filamentary plasma sheet current. An analysis of Iridium spacecraft magnetometer measurements provided estimates of large-scale ionospheric FAC in relation to the AWFC evolution. Peak flows in the AWFC were located close to the peak of a Region 2 downward FAC, located just poleward of the plasmapause. DMSP satellite observations confirmed the AWFC was located equatorward of the nightside plasmasheet, sometimes associated with ~10 keV ion precipitation.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuzhang Ma ◽  
Qing-He Zhang ◽  
Larry R. Lyons ◽  
Jiang Liu ◽  
Zan-Yang Xing ◽  
...  

<p>Following substorm auroral onset, the active aurora region usually expands poleward toward the poleward auroral boundary. Such poleward expansion is often associated with a bulge region that expands westward and forms the westward travelling surge (WTS). In this paper we show all-sky imager and Poker Flat Advanced Modular Incoherent Scatter Radar (PFISR) radar observations of two surge events to investigate the relationship between the surge and flow from the polar cap. For both events, we observe auroral streamers, with an adjacent flow channel consisting of decreased density and cool electron temperature plasma flowing equatorward. This flow channel appears to impinge and lead/feed surge formation, and to stay connected to the surge as it moves westward. Also, for both events, streamer observations indicate that, following initial surge development, similar flows led to explosive surge enhancements. The observation that the streamers connected to the auroral polar boundary and that the flow channels consisted of low density, low electron temperature plasma indicates that the impinging plasma came from the polar cap. For both events, the altitude variations of F region plasma within the surges are related with aurora emission and the poleward/equatorward flow, and the surges develop strong auroral streamers that initiate along the poleward auroral boundary when contacted with flow from the polar cap. These results suggest that the polar cap flow channels play a crucial role in auroral surges by feeding low entropy plasma into surge initiation and development, and also playing an important role in the dynamics within a surge.</p>


Author(s):  
E. Zesta ◽  
L. Lyons ◽  
C.-P. Wang ◽  
E. Donovan ◽  
H. Frey ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
José L. Carrascosa ◽  
José M. Valpuesta ◽  
Hisao Fujisawa

The head to tail connector of bacteriophages plays a fundamental role in the assembly of viral heads and DNA packaging. In spite of the absence of sequence homology, the structure of connectors from different viruses (T4, Ø29, T3, P22, etc) share common morphological features, that are most clearly revealed in their three-dimensional structure. We have studied the three-dimensional reconstruction of the connector protein from phage T3 (gp 8) from tilted view of two dimensional crystals obtained from this protein after cloning and purification.DNA sequences including gene 8 from phage T3 were cloned, into Bam Hl-Eco Rl sites down stream of lambda promotor PL, in the expression vector pNT45 under the control of cI857. E R204 (pNT89) cells were incubated at 42°C for 2h, harvested and resuspended in 20 mM Tris HC1 (pH 7.4), 7mM 2 mercaptoethanol, ImM EDTA. The cells were lysed by freezing and thawing in the presence of lysozyme (lmg/ml) and ligthly sonicated. The low speed supernatant was precipitated by ammonium sulfate (60% saturated) and dissolved in the original buffer to be subjected to gel nitration through Sepharose 6B, followed by phosphocellulose colum (Pll) and DEAE cellulose colum (DE52). Purified gp8 appeared at 0.3M NaCl and formed crystals when its concentration increased above 1.5 mg/ml.


Author(s):  
Muhammad Yar Khan ◽  
Yan Liu ◽  
Tao Wang ◽  
Hu Long ◽  
Miaogen Chen ◽  
...  

AbstractMonolayer MnCX3 metal–carbon trichalcogenides have been investigated by using the first-principle calculations. The compounds show half-metallic ferromagnetic characters. Our results reveal that their electronic and magnetic properties can be altered by applying uniaxial or biaxial strain. By tuning the strength of the external strain, the electronic bandgap and magnetic ordering of the compounds change and result in a phase transition from the half-metallic to the semiconducting phase. Furthermore, the vibrational and thermodynamic stability of the two-dimensional structure has been verified by calculating the phonon dispersion and molecular dynamics. Our study paves guidance for the potential applications of these two mono-layers in the future for spintronics and straintronics devices.


Langmuir ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 21 (16) ◽  
pp. 7225-7229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xunyu Yang ◽  
Zhongcheng Mu ◽  
Zhiqiang Wang ◽  
Xi Zhang ◽  
Jia Wang ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 164 (12) ◽  
pp. C641-C652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bing Xue ◽  
Mei Yu ◽  
Jianhua Liu ◽  
Songmei Li ◽  
Liangliang Xiong ◽  
...  

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