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| INSTITUTET FÖR RYMDFYSIK | UPPSALA |
 |
|
| Swedish Institute of Space Physics | (59°50.272′N, 17°38.786′E) |
Student Project (15 c)/Studentprojekt (15 hp)
Detection of thin current sheets in the magnetotail plasma sheet
Student: Iñaki Vigo Vidal, Uppsala UniversitySupervisor: Louis Richard
Period: spring 2025
Abstract
Thin current sheets (TCSs) are narrow regions where electric currents are highly concentrated, often occurring at reconnection sites. The aim of this study is to implement amethod for identifying TCSs in the Earth’s magnetotail plasma sheet. Once identified, a catalogue characterising them is constructed. These structures are of particular interest because they can host magnetic reconnection events. Therefore, gaining a solid understanding of TCS behaviour may support future kinetic studies of this intriguing phenomenon. To achieve this, data from the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission are processed and analysed. According to specific detection criteria based on the local magnetic field and current density, a total of 4184 TCS events have been identified during approximately 371 hours of data collected between 2-6 June and 5-31 July 2017.Results
Final report
Example plot from the report, showing the positions of thin current sheets identified in the magnetic tail forming behind the Earth:
![[Plot]](plot.png)