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A. Szabo, R. P. Lepping, K. W. Ogilvie, V. A. Osherovich
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
R. P. Lin, D. Larson
Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley,
California
J. D. Scudder
University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
J. T. Steinberg
Center for Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge
There are magnetic field and plasma flow perturbations within the October 18-19, 1995 magnetic cloud, which we examine in this presentation. In particular, the 3s - resolution magnetic field measurements made by the MFI instrument on WIND show ~6 clear directional discontinuities with rotations in excess of ~20^o over time intervals ranging from a few seconds to a few minutes. There are more discontinuities in the Bz > 0 phase of the cloud than in the Bz < 0 phase. The velocity and temperatures of the proton component inside the cloud, as monitored at 3 s resolution by the 3D Plasma instrument on WIND, are also perturbed, both across the discontinuities as well as in other regions of the magnetic cloud. We apply a number of quantitative tests on the changes in the magnetic field and flow velocity vectors across the directional discontinuities and conclude that, with the exception of the front boundary, all are rotational discontinuities. The proton behavior at some of these RD's would suggest an even more elaborate structure, similar to a reconnection layer. Even in the magnetic cloud frame, there are occasions where the signs of all velocity components are reversed across the discontinuities. Besides discontinous changes, we examine other aspects of the magnetic field and flow perturbations. Taking a number of several-hour-long stretches inside the cloud we find that (a) the velocity perturbations are different for different segments; and (b) furthermore, while a minimum variance analysis of the magnetic field yields very well-defined normals for a given segment of data, the angle between these normals can differ widely from segment to segment by as much 87 deg. All these observations taken together, and in conjunction with other observations, would suggest detailed substructure in the October 18-19, 1995 magnetic cloud.