Anisotropic scaling features and complexity in magnetospheric-cusp: a case study

E. Yordanova (1, 2) , J. P. Bergman (1, 3) , G. Consolini (4) , Matthieu Kretzschmar (4) , M. Materassi (1, 5) , B. Popielawska (1) , M. Roca-Sogorb (4) , K. Stasiewicz (3) , A. W. Wernik (1)

1 CBK - Space Research Centre of Polish Academy of Sciences
2 SRI - Space Research Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Science
3 IRF - Swedish Institute of Space Physics [Kiruna]
4 IFSI - Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario
5 Istituto di Fisica dei Sistemi Complessi

Magnetospheric cusps are high-latitude regions characterized by a highly turbulent plasma, playing a special role in the solar wind-magnetosphere interaction. Here, using POLAR satellite magnetic field vector measurements we investigate the anisotropic scaling features of the magnetic field fluctuations in the northern cusp region. Our results seem to support the hypothesis of a 2D-MHD turbulent scenario which is consequence of a strong background magnetic field. The observed turbulent fluctuations reveal a high degree of complexity, which might be due to the interplay of many competing scales. A discussion of our findings in connection with the complex scenario proposed by Chang et al. (2004) is provided.

Domaines: Cosmologie et astrophysique extra-galactique [astro-ph.CO]; Astrophysique [astro-ph]; Sciences de la Terre

E. Yordanova, J. P. Bergman, G. Consolini, Matthieu Kretzschmar, M. Materassi, et al.. Anisotropic scaling features and complexity in magnetospheric-cusp: a case study. Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics, 2005, 12 (6), pp.817-825. ⟨hal-00302599⟩