Space Plasma Research at UCL/MSSL
We are active in a number of areas of Space Plasmas Research, driven by our current and future participation in international space science missions for which we have, or will provide instrument hardware. These include interests in the solar wind, and the terrestrial and planetary magnetospheres.
The solar wind is a stream of plasma that flows radially outwards from the Sun, carrying with it the solar magnetic field. It is a supersonic plasma that is shocked by its encounters with bodies throughout the solar system. The source of the solar wind and its evolution through the solar system are areas of active research within the Space Plasma Physics group at MSSL.
We are the principal investigator institute for the Solar Wind Analyser (SWA) suite of sensors which are selected for inclusion on ESA’s Solar Orbiter Mission. This mission, targeted for launch in January 2017, is a candidate to be the first component of ESA’s Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 Programme. As well as leading the international SWA consortium, preparations for this mission at UCL/MSSL include the scientific analysis of current space-based observations of the solar wind, which acts to inform the design and prototyping work for the SWA Electron Analyser System (SWA/EAS), which will be built at UCL/MSSL.
We work in close collaboration with the UCL/MSSL Solar Physics group in order to better our understanding between phenomena on the Sun and their propagation into the solar system.
We are engaged in the scientific study of the structures and dynamics of a number of regions found within and around the Earths magnetosphere, including the magnetospheric cusps, the magnetopause and the magnetotail. We are particularly interested in magnetic reconnection, and its manifestations at the magnetopause (for example through studies of Flux Transfer Events) and in the magnetotail (in particular the physics of magnetospheric substorm and related phenomena). In addition, recent work concentrates also on the auroral regions, and the physical processes which accelerate particles precipitating from the magnetosphere to the energies needed for auroral activation.
The principal tool we use for magnetospheric research is data from the ESA 4-spacecraft Cluster mission and China/ESA 2-spacecraft Double Star mission. UCL/MSSL is the Principal Investigator Institute for the Electron Spectrometer instrument (PEACE) flown on all 6 of these spacecraft. We also use data from the Polar, Interball, Geotail, ACE, Wind and THEMIS satellites.
Often in close collaboration with members of the UCL/MSSL Planetary Group, members of the Space Plasmas Group regularly participate in studies of the plasma environments (magnetospheres, ionospheres, plasma wakes, etc.) of other solar system bodies.
Our expertise in studying the plasma environment around the Earth and the abundance of data available allow us to study the similarities and differences between the different planetary systems throughout the solar system. Through these comparisons, we can further our understanding of the fundamental physics of plasmas.
MSSL Space Plasma Science Nuggets
Structure and variability of the auroral acceleration region
Bright auroral arc appear when charged particles from the magnetosphere are accelerated into the upper atmosphere. Collisions between charged particles and neutrals excite the electrons in the neutral particles which then de-excite by emitting auroral light. Particles, in particular electrons, are accelerated out of the magnetosphere and into the atmosphere by magnetic-field-aligned electric potential drops in a region known as the auroral acceleration region (AAR). In a recent paper, Forsyth et al. [2012] investigated the temporal variability and spatial structure in one such region. More...
What is the source of magnetotail flux-ropes?
Travelling compression regions (TCRs) are perturbations in the magnetotail lobe magnetic field caused by structures moving Earthward or tailward within the plasma sheet. Previous works have suggested that these structures are created by either time-dependant reconnection occurring at a single X-line, forming a flux-bulge-type structure, or space-variant reconnection at multiple X-lines, forming flux-rope-type structures. By analysing a TCR and its source structure using the Cluster spacecraft, Beyene et al. (2011) have endeavoured to determine which of these mechanisms creates TCRs. More...
Particle Distributions in the Magnetotail
For the first time, Walsh et al. have examined, in detail, the particle distributions in the magnetotail to determine the average pitch angle distributions. More...
Calculating currents from four spacecraft
Ampere's law tells us that the curl of a magnetic field is proportional to current density. In order to measure the curl of a magnetic field in space, one needs to know approximate the variation of the magnetic field between four non-coplanar points. Such measurements are achieved by the Cluster quartet. More...
Discovery of the 'Travelling Magnetopause Erosion Region'
Recent work by Owen et al. has shed new light on the structure of the magnetopause following bursts of reconnection through the discovery of 'Travelling Magnetopause Erosion Regions'. More...
Page last modified on 08 sep 11 09:26
