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Data Access
Virtual Magnetospheric Observatory
Characteristics of Reconnection Sites and Fast Flow Channels in an MHD Simulation. Supplementary MHD simulation movie mS1-Vx.mp4 for 14 March 2008.
var authors='R.L. McPherron; M. El-Alaoui; R.J. Walker; and R.L. Richard';
document.write(authors);
(2020).
Characteristics of Reconnection Sites and Fast Flow Channels in an MHD Simulation. Supplementary MHD simulation movie mS1-Vx.mp4 for 14 March 2008..
[Data set].
University of California, Los Angeles.
https://doi.org/10.21978/p8rw5g. Accessed on document.write(currentDateStr);.
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ResourceID
spase://NASA/DisplayData/UCLA/Global-MHD-code/mS1-Vx/PT10S
Description
This movie of the GSM X component of plasma flow velocity is on the original, not interpolated grid. Flow directions
are displayed on a reduced grid 1/7 the size of the original. Vectors saturate at an equatorial speed of 300 km/s to avoid clutter.
Red and yellow colors show earthward flows while blue colors identify tailward flow. Contours of Vx = 250 km/s are denoted by heavy
black lines. Inside these contours abs(Vx) reaches values of 500 km/s or more. White lines are contours of plasma pressure.
Heavy black and white lines at >10 Re pre-midnight depict the location of THEMIS spacecraft. A dashed black semi-circle defines
synchronous orbit. The Earth is a green half-circular patch.
The first image in this movie at 04:00 UT is the start of the growth phase of a substorm with onset at 04:44 UT. This image
demonstrated the validity of one of the key points of this paper. Reconnection and fast flows are continuously present throughout
the entire substorm. At this time, keograms from ground station in the pre-midnight sector show no auroral activity poleward of
the growth phase arcs except for RANK where aurora was present in the northeastern sky, which did not contribute to its keogram.
This location projects close to the moon. The location of reconnection sites is evident from bifurcation in the high-speed flow
with red earthward and blue tailward. At this moment, there are six earthward fast flow channels. Our arbitrary constraint on
channel area eliminated the two small channels from further consideration.
Activation of the movie reveals that the two fast flow channels in this image turn towards the flanks just outside the apogee
of the THEMIS spacecraft. By the substorm onset at 04:44 UT, various x-lines coalesce into a single 55 Re long x-line with a
high-speed flow channel engulfing the THEMIS spacecraft. By 04:55 UT, this channels breaks up into three separate channels
Metadata Rights
CC0-1.0:
Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal
Note
CC0 1.0 Universal is the Creative Commons license applicable to all publicly available SPASE metadata descriptions. The actual data/software may be subject to a different license.
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Details
Version:2.7.1
DisplayData
ResourceID
spase://NASA/DisplayData/UCLA/Global-MHD-code/mS1-Vx/PT10S
NamingAuthority
NASA
ResourceType
DisplayData
ResourceHeader
ResourceName
Characteristics of Reconnection Sites and Fast Flow Channels in an MHD Simulation. Supplementary MHD simulation movie mS1-Vx.mp4 for 14 March 2008.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21978/p8rw5g
ReleaseDate
2026-06-26 15:10:58Z
RevisionHistory
RevisionEvent
ReleaseDate
2022-03-16 00:00:00Z
Note
Only known prior ReleaseDate of the metadata
RevisionEvent
ReleaseDate
2025-03-03 13:30:47Z
Note
Modified Funding AwardNumber. ZCB
RevisionEvent
ReleaseDate
2025-09-30 14:25:16Z
Note
Updated PublishedBy name to match ROR Registry. Added ResourceType and NamingAuthority. ZCB
RevisionEvent
ReleaseDate
2025-12-04 13:28:08Z
Note
Added MetadataRightsList. Updated to 2.7.1. ZCB
RevisionEvent
ReleaseDate
2026-06-26 15:10:58Z
Note
Add 'Z' to TemporalDescription:TimeSpan:StartDate, TemporalDescription:TimeSpan:StopDate. ZCB
Description
This movie of the GSM X component of plasma flow velocity is on the original, not interpolated grid. Flow directions
are displayed on a reduced grid 1/7 the size of the original. Vectors saturate at an equatorial speed of 300 km/s to avoid clutter.
Red and yellow colors show earthward flows while blue colors identify tailward flow. Contours of Vx = 250 km/s are denoted by heavy
black lines. Inside these contours abs(Vx) reaches values of 500 km/s or more. White lines are contours of plasma pressure.
Heavy black and white lines at >10 Re pre-midnight depict the location of THEMIS spacecraft. A dashed black semi-circle defines
synchronous orbit. The Earth is a green half-circular patch.
The first image in this movie at 04:00 UT is the start of the growth phase of a substorm with onset at 04:44 UT. This image
demonstrated the validity of one of the key points of this paper. Reconnection and fast flows are continuously present throughout
the entire substorm. At this time, keograms from ground station in the pre-midnight sector show no auroral activity poleward of
the growth phase arcs except for RANK where aurora was present in the northeastern sky, which did not contribute to its keogram.
This location projects close to the moon. The location of reconnection sites is evident from bifurcation in the high-speed flow
with red earthward and blue tailward. At this moment, there are six earthward fast flow channels. Our arbitrary constraint on
channel area eliminated the two small channels from further consideration.
Activation of the movie reveals that the two fast flow channels in this image turn towards the flanks just outside the apogee
of the THEMIS spacecraft. By the substorm onset at 04:44 UT, various x-lines coalesce into a single 55 Re long x-line with a
high-speed flow channel engulfing the THEMIS spacecraft. By 04:55 UT, this channels breaks up into three separate channels
Acknowledgement
Mostafa El-Alaoui, RaymondJ. Walker; Robert L. McPherron
PublicationInfo
Authors
R.L. McPherron; M. El-Alaoui; R.J. Walker; and R.L. Richard
PublicationDate
2020-08-31 00:00:00Z
PublishedBy
University of California, Los Angeles
Funding
Agency
NASA
Project
Substorm current wedge development and evolution using THEMIS observation and simulations
AwardNumber
NNX17AB83G
Funding
Agency
NASA
Project
Structure and evolution of plasma sheet fast flows using THEMIS observation and global MHD simulations
AwardNumber
NNX15AI63G
Funding
Agency
NSF
Project
GEM: A Statistical Study of the Substorm Sequence and Phenomena Associated with Expansion Onset
AwardNumber
1602588
Contacts
Role
Person
StartDate
StopDate
Note
1.
GeneralContact
spase://SMWG/Person/Robert.L.McPherron
2.
MetadataContact
spase://SMWG/Person/James.M.Weygand
InformationURL
Name
Virtual Magnetospheric Observatory directory containing movies for Journal of Gephysical Research publication.
URL
http://vmo.igpp.ucla.edu/data1/McPherron/Simulation_Movies_and_Data/Simulation_Movies/mS1-Vx.avi
Description
Supplimentary movies for JGR publication
AccessInformation
RepositoryID
spase://SMWG/Repository/UCLA/VMO
Availability
Online
AccessRights
Open
AccessURL
Name
Virtual Magnetospheric Observatory
URL
http://vmo.igpp.ucla.edu/data1/
Description
Virtual Magnetospheric Observatory
Language
EN
Format
AVI
Acknowledgement
If data downloaded from the VMO Data Repository are used in publication kindly acknowledge the Virtual Magnetospheric Observatory, Earth, Planetary and Space Science Department, University of California, Los Angeles for providing access to the data.
ProcessingLevel
Raw
ProviderName
UCLA M. El-Alaoui MHD Simulation
ProviderResourceName
MHD Simulation Movies
ProviderProcessingLevel
Raw
InstrumentIDs
spase://SMWG/Instrument/UCLA/Global-MHD-code
MeasurementType
ThermalPlasma
TemporalDescription
TimeSpan
StartDate
2008-03-14 04:00:00Z
StopDate
2008-03-14 05:00:00Z
DisplayCadence
PT10S
ObservedRegion
Earth.Magnetosphere
Keywords
MHD Simulation
Substorm
High Speed Earthward Flows
Parameter #1
Name
MHD simulation movie of GSM X component of position for 14 March 2008
ParameterKey
X component of position
Description
Two dimensional display of this movie of the GSM X component of position is on the original.
Cadence
PT10S
Units
Re
CoordinateSystem
CoordinateRepresentation
Cartesian
CoordinateSystemName
GSM
Structure
Size
3840 1890
Description
Each image is 3840 pixels by 1890 pixels and there are 360 frames in the movie.
ValidMin
-70
ValidMax
0
Support
Qualifier
Direction
SupportQuantity
Positional
Parameter #2
Name
MHD simulation movie of GSM Y component of position for 14 March 2008
ParameterKey
Y component of position
Description
Two dimensional display of this movie of the GSM Y component of position is on the original.
Cadence
PT10S
Units
Re
CoordinateSystem
CoordinateRepresentation
Cartesian
CoordinateSystemName
GSM
Structure
Size
3840 1890
Description
Each image is 3840 pixels by 1890 pixels and there are 360 frames in the movie.
ValidMin
-20
ValidMax
20
Support
Qualifier
Direction
SupportQuantity
Positional
Parameter #3
Name
MHD simulation movie of GSM X component of plasma flow velocity for 14 March 2008
ParameterKey
Vx component of plasma flow
Description
Two dimensional display of this movie of the GSM X component of plasma flow velocity is on the original, not interpolated grid.
Cadence
PT10S
Units
km/s
CoordinateSystem
CoordinateRepresentation
Cartesian
CoordinateSystemName
GSM
Structure
Size
3840 1890
Description
Each image is 3840 pixels by 1890 pixels and there are 360 frames in the movie.
ValidMin
-500
ValidMax
500
Support
Qualifier
Vector
SupportQuantity
Velocity
Parameter #4
Name
MHD simulation movie of GSM plasma flow velocity for 14 March 2008
ParameterKey
Vx and Vy components of plasma flow
Description
Two dimensional display of this movie of the GSM plasma flow velocity interpolated grid.
Cadence
PT10S
Units
km/s
CoordinateSystem
CoordinateRepresentation
Cartesian
CoordinateSystemName
GSM
Structure
Size
3840 1890
Description
Each image is 3840 pixels by 1890 pixels and there are 360 frames in the movie.
ValidMin
-300
ValidMax
300
Support
Qualifier
Vector
SupportQuantity
Velocity