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Characteristics of Intense Current-carrying Structures in the Terrestrial Magnetosheath
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  • Steven Schwartz,
  • Harald Kucharek,
  • Charles Farrugia,
  • Karlheinz Trattner,
  • Imogen Gingell,
  • Alexandros Chasapis,
  • Daniel Gershman,
  • Robert Strangeway
Steven Schwartz
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics

Corresponding Author:steven.schwartz@lasp.colorado.edu

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Harald Kucharek
Univ New Hampshire
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Charles Farrugia
University of New Hampshire
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Karlheinz Trattner
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
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Imogen Gingell
Southampton University
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Alexandros Chasapis
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
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Daniel Gershman
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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Robert Strangeway
Univ California
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Abstract

We exploit novel “string-of-pearls” configuration of NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale mission to investigate properties of structures within the Earth’s magnetosheath that are short in duration but carry intense currents. Previous work has shown that the j.E energy conversion within current structures processes of order 10% of the total energy flux incident at the bow shock. This makes these events important contributors to the overall shock energy budget and ongoing thermalization within the magnetosheath. The present study, under very similar solar wind conditions and bow shock geometries, reveals significant qualitative differences from the previous study. Moreover, we find only modest, if any coherence, on scales <1000 km. We explore the implication of these observations in terms of both bow shock and turbulence energy transfer and dissipation.