A new look at the pulsed reconnection model of the dayside magnetopause Original Research Article

Electron and ion precipitation data from two co-orbiting Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft (F6 and F8) are used to investigate the model of pulsed magnetopause reconnection. We suggest that the two energy dispersions observed can be explained by two separate injections resulting from two bursts of magnetopause reconnection. However, an observed overlap between the two ion dispersions cannot be explained with the conventional model of bursty magnetopause reconnection. We propose a generalization of the pulsed reconnection model that involves elements of both the bursty single x-line and multiple x-line reconnection models. In the framework of this unified model, the observed electron features can be explained in terms of the “fossil” flux transfer event picture.