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International audience; Magnetic reconnection occurs in thin current sheets that form in turbulent plasmas. It leads to particle heating and acceleration and is thought to play an important role for the turbulent dissipation at kinetic scales, energy. However, in situ observations are scarce and the extent of its contribution to turbulent dissipation has yet to be determined. The MMS mission allows us to closely study kinetic-scale intermittent structures that form in turbulent plasma as well as to detect thin reconnecting current sheets and examine their properties. We present the results of MMS observations in the turbulence of the Earth's magnetosheath. We performed a statistical study of small-scale intermittent structures and their role in heating and accelerating electrons. We examined one current sheet in detail which shows evidence of reconnection, focusing on the mechanisms that drive the observed heating and acceleration within it and the role of wave-particle interactions.

International audience; Dipolarization fronts (DFs), embedded in bursty bulk flows, play a crucial role in Earth's plasma sheet dynamics because the energy input from the solar wind is partly dissipated in their vicinity. This dissipation is in the form of strong low-frequency waves that can heat and accelerate energetic electrons up to the high-latitude plasma sheet. However, the dynamics of DF propagation and associated low-frequency waves in the magnetotail are still under debate due to instrumental limitations and spacecraft separation distances. In May 2015 the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission was in a string-of-pearls configuration with an average intersatellite distance of 160 km, which allows us to study in detail the microphysics of DFs. Thus, in this letter we employ MMS data to investigate the properties of dipolarization fronts propagating earthward and associated whistler mode wave emissions. We show that the spatial dynamics of DFs are below the ion gyroradius scale in this region (˜500 km), which can modify the dynamics of ions in the vicinity of the DF (e.g., making their motion nonadiabatic). We also show that whistler wave dynamics have a temporal scale of the order of the ion gyroperiod (a few seconds), indicating that the perpendicular temperature anisotropy can vary on such time scales.

International audience; The instrument suite of MMS mission includes one search coil and two fluxgate magnetometers on each observatory and can therefore provide the possibility to study events that cross the sensitive frequency range of both instrument types. It is therefore desirable to have a common merged data product that combines the best parts of both instruments. Extensive ground based test measurements have been performed to identify the properties of the instruments. New models for compensating time and frequency properties were created and the difference to existing calibrations is analyzed. Considerations for application as well as signal processing constraints are discussed and the resulting method is applied on data from the mission. Dipolarization events can serve as suitable example, since they contain a variety of disturbances with different characteristic scales: transient filamentary properties, sharp fronts, reconfiguration of the current sheet, wave signatures on kinetic as well as fluid scales, thus requiring highest sensitivity data in a wide frequency range. We show these different signatures relevant to the dipolarization events based on the analysis of these newly produced data.

International audience; Dipolarization fronts (DFs) are characterized by a rapid increase in the northward magnetic field component (Bz) and play a crucial role in the energy and magnetic flux transport in the magnetotail. Multispacecraft observations of DFs in a large portion of the magnetotail by e.g. Geotail, Cluster and THEMIS have been reported for over three decades.During the commissioning phase of MMS we are able to observe DFs at radial distances within 8 Re, which is in a more dipolarized region (well within the flow braking region). We present a statistical study of DFs observed during March-May 2015, using only magnetic field data. First results indicate that the amplitude of the found DFs is greater compared to similar events in the distant tail. Timing analysis yields that many of the DFs propagate tailward, which would suggest a rebound (bouncing) of the DF at the magnetic dipole-dominated near-Earth plasma sheet. Since MMS spacecraft are in a "string-of-pearls" configuration, further analysis is ongoing to evaluate the obtained direction from a simple timing analysis. We compare and contrast the found DFs with that from the DF-eventlist introduced in Schmid et al. [J. Geophys. Res., 2, 120 (2015)], which is based on 9 years (2001-2009) of Cluster magnetotail observations.

International audience; Plasma jets aka bursty bulk flows play a crucial role in Earth's magnetosphere dynamics, in particular during substorms where they can penetrate down to the geosynchronous orbit. The energy input from the solar wind is partly dissipated in jet fronts (also called dipolarization fronts) in the form of strong whistler waves that can heat and accelerate energetic electrons. The ratio of the energy transported during jets to the substorm energy consumption can reach one third or more due to kinetic-scale phenomena, that are still under debate due to instrumental limitations. The recently-launched Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission has already detected numerous plasma jet events, and evolves in a tetrahedral configuration (with an average inter- satellite distance of 160 km and unprecedent resolutions up to 16,000 samples/s) that allows to study in detail the microphysics of these phenomena. Thus in this study we employ MMS data to investigate the energy dissipated in jet fronts related to the generation of whistler waves, and the interaction of such waves with energetic electrons in the vicinity of the flow/jet braking region near the equatorial boundary between tail and inner magnetosphere. We also make use of ray tracing simulations to evaluate their propagation properties, as well as their impact on particles in the off-equatorial magnetosphere.

International audience; The electrodynamics at the magnetopause is key to our understanding of ion and electron acceleration within reconnection regions. The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) fleet of four spacecraft was launched into its Phase-1 equatorial orbit of 12 Re apogee specifically to investigate these regions at the Earth's magnetopause. In addition to a comprehensive suite of particle measurements, MMS makes very high time resolution 3D electric and magnetic field measurements of high accuracy using flux-gate, search coil, 3-axis double probe, and electron drift sensors. In September 2015, the MMS fleet will begin to encounter the dusk-side magnetopause in its initial configuration of approximately 160 km separation, allowing investigation of the spatial and temporal characteristics of important electrodynamics during reconnection. Using these field and particle measurements, we present first observations of 3D magnetic and electric fields (including their parallel component), and inferred current sheets, during active magnetopause crossings using the highest time resolution data available on MMS.

International audience; After successful launch and deployment on 14 March 2015, the four Magnetosphere Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft were commissioned during the first local time precession of the orbit line of apsides across the magnetotail from dawn to dusk. Prime science observations began in September 2015 when orbit apogee had moved to the dusk sector at magnetopause distances. Signatures of magnetotail dynamics were observed during payload and fleet commissioning. The electrodynamic context of the magnetotail events at MMS as well as observations at the dusk and afternoon magnetopause is assessed using correlative observations from low Earth orbit and ground-based instruments including the Active Magnetosphere and Polar Electrodynamics Response Experiment (AMPERE), SuperMAG, and SuperDARN. Substorm current onsets are prevalent in AMPERE data and are highly correlated with magnetotail injections and dipolarizations observed by MMS. To better constrain how the MMS magnetotail observations are related to global processes, we also examine the occurrence and prevalence of similar ionospheric onset signatures when MMS was at high altitudes in the magnetotail but observed no local signatures of injections or dipolarizations. For MMS magnetopause observations, we explore the relationship of magnetic reconnection signatures at MMS with the convection patterns derived from AMPERE and ionosphere observations to establish the relationship of the local MMS observations and global magnetospheric convective state.

International audience; During the commissioning phase of the MMS mission, when the apogee (~12Re) of MMS orbit swept from the pre-midnight to the dusk section of the magnetosphere, the four spacecraft probed the dynamic region of the near-Earth magnetotail. The MMS fleet encountered many structures with unambiguously small-scale spatial gradient in magnetic field (comparable to the separation of the fleet), indicating the existence of very thin current sheets in this near-tail region. During this commissioning phase, the MMS spacecraft were in a string of pearls configuration, not ideally suitable for "curlometer" determination of the current density. Thus the current density and thickness of the sheets are only roughly determined using reasonable assumptions. In this study we correlate the current sheet's location and thickness with solar wind conditions and the ground magnetic field records.

International audience; The apogee of the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft was in the predawn local time sector early in the MMS commissioning phase. On several orbits in this phase MMS observed large amplitude (10s of nT) Pc5 pulsations, typically around 5 to 7 Earth radii, near dawn. Because MMS was in a string-of-pearls configuration we could determine the phase velocity of the waves along the spacecraft separation vector. Preliminary analysis indicates that this was of the order 30-50 km/s, much larger than the spacecraft velocity. Furthermore, the waves are propagating tailwards. Given a nominal wave period of the order 5 minutes, the wavelength of the waves is around 2 Earth radii, assuming azimuthal propagation. This corresponds to an m-number of about 20. The waves used for this initial study were observed on several successive orbits during the recovery phase of the March 17, 2015 geomagnetic storm. We will present additional analysis of the properties of these ULF waves as observed during the MMS commissioning phase, during which time the spacecraft apogee migrated from dawn to dusk through the nightside.

International audience; With the successful launch of Magnetospheric Multiscale Misssion (MMS), it becomes possible to observe the dynamic signatures of magnetospheric transients with high-time resolution measurements of electromagnetic fields and plasma. The Active Spacecraft Potential Control (ASPOC) neutralizes the spacecraft potential by releasing positive charge produced by indium and thereby controlling the spacecraft potential in order to enable accurate measurements also in sparse plasma environments essential to study properties of reconnection. Since the current balance around the spacecraft is maintained by contribution also from the ambient plasma, predominantly electrons, ASPOC beam current values combined with spacecraft potential data from FIELDS instruments enable to deduce the ambient electron plasma parameters . Particularly, using data from multi-spacecraft measurements with different ASPOC current levels and FIELDS data, parameters on ambient electron temperature and density can be deduced. Monitoring the environmental plasma parameters are essential to determine the accurate scales of the structure or wave length relative to plasma scales and hence to understand the physical processes. In this study we investigate the changes of the electron parameters in the transient structures such as the magnetic field disturbance forming at the front of BBF/flow bursts, called dipolarization front (DF), and reconnection jets in thin current sheets obtained by MMS mainly during the commissioning phase when the spacecraft traversed the near-Earth tail.

International audience; Magnetic reconnection is the most important energy conversion process in the Earth's magnetotail. Flux ropes are helical magnetic structures created by multiple X-line reconnection in the tail current sheet in the presence of a guide field in the east - west direction. Many numerical simulations predict that the formation of small flux ropes, referred to as secondary islands, takes place as reconnection transitions from the slow Sweet-Parker mode to fast reconnection with inertial scale neutral points. High time resolution MMS magnetic and electric fields measurements are near ideal for the investigation of secondary island - type flux ropes carried Earthward from downstream reconnnection sites, as well as their interaction with the strong dipolar magnetic fields of the inner magnetosphere. We present and analyze initial MMS magnetic field measurements of small flux ropes in the near-tail during the commissioning phase while the spacecraft were in a "string-­of-­pearls" configuration.

International audience; Since the 9th of July, the MMS fleet of four satellites have evolved into a tetrahedral configuration with an average inter-satellite distance of 160 km and an apogee of 12 earth radii on the dusk side. In this study we report on ultra-low (1 mHz to ~10 Hz) and very-low (10 Hz to ~ 4 kHz) frequency wave activity measured by the four satellites during several crossings of the dusk equatorial magnetopause. Since the Larmor radius of magnetosheath protons is of the order of 50 km, this inter-satellite distance allows us to investigate in detail the physics of the magnetopause at proton scales including current structures related to Kelvin-Helmholtz instability as well as other energy transfer processes. From wave polarization analysis, we characterize the different types of emissions and discuss different mechanisms of heating and acceleration of particles. In particular, we focus on the electron heating by kinetic Alfvén waves and lower hybrid waves and the electron acceleration by oblique whistler mode waves, which have been suggested as possible mechanisms from previous Cluster and THEMIS measurements.