SM020-0011
The Dependence of Poynting Flux and Ion Heating on the Presence of O+ Ions in Dayside and Tail Reconnection

Thursday, 10 December 2020
Poster
Evan Tyler, College of Saint Scholastica, Duluth, MN, United States, Cynthia A Cattell, University of Minnesota, School of Physics and Astronomy, Minneapolis, MN, United States, Ian J. Cohen, The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, United States, Stephen A Fuselier, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, United States, Lynn M Kistler, Univ New Hampshire, Durham, NH, United States, Elena A Kronberg, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Gottingen, Germany, Chris Mouikis, University of New Hampshire Main Campus, Physics, Durham, United States, Marit Oieroset, Univ California, Berkeley, CA, United States and Tai Phan, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
Abstract:
We study the impact of O+ ions on the outflowing Poynting flux and the ion heating from dayside and magnetotail reconnection events observed by Cluster and MMS. It has been established that heavy ions alter the process of reconnection, but the details remain uncertain. Simulations demonstrate that O+ ions reduce the reconnection rate, but observations indicate that O+ may also increase the reconnection rate. Case studies have also demonstrated that O+ rather than H+ can occasionally carry away a significant or dominant portion of the outflowing energy during reconnection events. In order to better understand the impact of heavy ions on the reconnection process, we examine the Poynting flux released during tail and dayside reconnection during events with and without the presence of significant O+ ions. We additionally filter the Poynting flux into separate frequency bands to determine if the structures carrying the Poynting flux differ based on the presence of heavy ions. Finally, we compare the inflowing energy to the change in ion temperature in the reconnection exhaust to determine if O+ ions significantly alter the energy carried away by H+ ions.
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