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Spatial Distribution of the Eddy Diffusion Coefficient in the Plasma Sheet of Earth’s Magnetotail and Its Dependence on the Interplanetary Magnetic Field and Geomagnetic Activity Based on MMS Satellite Data

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Abstract

The article presents the results of a statistical analysis of the distribution of the eddy diffusion coefficient depending on the coordinates in the plasma sheet of Earth’s magnetosphere based on data from the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission satellite system (MMS) for the period from 2017 to 2022. The localization of satellites inside the plasma sheet was recorded from the concentration and temperature of plasma ions according to the data of the same instruments and the value of plasma parameter β. Significant anisotropy of the eddy diffusion coefficient was revealed. The dependence of the eddy diffusion coefficient on the interplanetary magnetic field is analyzed, showing that with the southern orientation of the interplanetary magnetic field, the eddy diffusion coefficients are 1.5–2 times greater than with the northern orientation. It is also shown that under disturbed geomagnetic conditions (SML < –200 nT), the eddy diffusion coefficients are several times greater than under quiet geomagnetic conditions (SML > –50 nT).

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful to the MMS project team for the opportunity to use the data, as well as to the creators of the OMNI database (https://omniweb.gsfc.nasa.gov/) and the SuperMAG project (https://supermag.jhuapl.edu/info/).

Funding

The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, grant no. 23-22-00076 (https://rscf.ru/project/23-22-00076/).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia

    D. Yu. Naiko, I. L. Ovchinnikov & E. E. Antonova

  2. Department of Physics, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia

    D. Yu. Naiko

  3. Space Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    E. E. Antonova

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  1. D. Yu. Naiko
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  2. I. L. Ovchinnikov
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Correspondence to D. Yu. Naiko, I. L. Ovchinnikov or E. E. Antonova.

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Naiko, D.Y., Ovchinnikov, I.L. & Antonova, E.E. Spatial Distribution of the Eddy Diffusion Coefficient in the Plasma Sheet of Earth’s Magnetotail and Its Dependence on the Interplanetary Magnetic Field and Geomagnetic Activity Based on MMS Satellite Data. Geomagn. Aeron. 64, 172–179 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0016793223600996

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