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http://dx.doi.org/10.5140/JASS.2019.36.1.1

Analysis of Field-Aligned Currents in the High-Altitude Nightside Auroral Region: Cluster Observation  

Shin, Youra (School of Space Research, Kyung Hee University)
Lee, Ensang (School of Space Research, Kyung Hee University)
Lee, Jae-Jin (Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute)
Publication Information
Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences / v.36, no.1, 2019 , pp. 1-9 More about this Journal
Abstract
In this paper we present analysis of current density when the Cluster spacecraft pass the nightside auroral region at about $4-5R_E$ from the center of Earth. The analysis is made when the inter-spacecraft separation is within 200 km, which allows all four spacecraft to be situated inside the same current sheet. On 22 February 2002, two field-aligned current (FAC) events were observed in both the southern and the northern hemispheres. The FACs were calculated with magnetic field data obtained by the four spacecraft using the Curlometer method. The scales of the FACs along the spacecraft trajectory and the magnitudes were hundreds of kilometers and tens of $nA/m^2$, respectively, and both events were mapped to the auroral region in the ionosphere. We also examined reliability of the results with some parameters, and found that our results are adequately comparable with other studies. Nevertheless, some limitations that decrease the accuracy of current estimation exist.
Keywords
Field-aligned current; the nightside auroral region; the Curlometer method; Cluster observation;
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