ANGEO Annales Geophysicae ANGEO Ann. Geophys. 1432-0576 Copernicus Publications Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/angeo-25-543-2007 Polar and Cluster observations of a dayside inverted-V during conjunction Menietti J. D. 1 Frahm R. A. 2 Korth A. 3 Mozer F. S. 4 Khotyaintsev Y. 5 University of Iowa, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa City, IA, USA Southwest Research Institute, 6220 Culebra Road, San Antonio, TX, USA Max-Planck-Institut fur Sonnensystemforschung, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany Space Science Lab, University of California, Berlekey, CA, USA Institutet fur rymdfysik (IRFU), Uppsala, Sweden 08 03 2007 25 2 543 555 Copyright: © 2007 J. D. Menietti et al. 2007 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This article is available from https://angeo.copernicus.org/articles/25/543/2007/angeo-25-543-2007.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://angeo.copernicus.org/articles/25/543/2007/angeo-25-543-2007.pdf

We investigate particle and fields data during a conjunction of the Polar and Cluster spacecraft. This conjunction occurs near the dayside cusp boundary layer when a dayside inverted-V was observed in the particle data of both satellites. Electron, ion, electric field, and magnetic field data from each satellite confirm that the dayside inverted-V (DSIV) structure is present at the location of both satellites and the electric fields persist from the altitude of the Polar (lower) spacecraft to the altitude of the Cluster spacecraft. We observe accelerated, precipitating electrons and upward ions along the magnetic field. In addition, large amplitude electric fields perpendicular to the ambient magnetic field seen by Polar and by Cluster suggest significant parallel electric fields associated with these events. For similar DSIV events observed by the Polar spacecraft, plasma waves (identified as possible Alfvén waves) have been observed to propagate in both directions along the magnetic field line. Future conjunctions will be necessary to confirm that DSIVs are associated with reconnection sites.

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