The effects of plasmaspheric plumes on dayside reconnection

Abstract

We summarize the results of a study on the impact of plasmaspheric plumes on dayside reconnection using a three-dimensional magnetospheric simulation code. We find that the mass loading of magnetospheric flux tubes slows local reconnection rates, though not as much as predicted by Borovsky et al. (2013) due to differences in how well the Cassak-Shay theory matches magnetospheric configurations with and without plasmaspheric plumes. Additionally, we find that in some circumstances reconnection activity is enhanced on either side of the plumes, which moderates its impact on the total dayside reconnection rate. These results provide evidence that plasmaspheric plumes have both local- and global-scale effects on dayside reconnection.