1. Wavy nature of the magnetotail neutral sheet
- Author
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Lui, A. T. Y, Meng, C.-I, and Akasofu, S.-I
- Subjects
Geophysics - Abstract
Crossings of the magnetotail neutral sheet are examined with 20-sec averaged magnetic field data from Imp 5 satellite. It is shown that for some multiple neutral sheet crossings, the y-component of the magnetic field reverses its sign between adjacent crossings. This feature can be explained in terms of a wavy profile of the neutral sheet along the dawn-dusk direction, but not in terms of flapping motion or wavy profile of the neutral sheet along the tailward direction. It is suggested that the magnetotail neutral sheet often shows departure from a plane geometry.
- Published
- 1978