title: Drift-kinetic Alfvén waves observed near a reconnection X line in the earth's magnetopause.
abstract: We identify drift-kinetic Alfvén waves in the vicinity of a reconnection X line on the Earth's magnetopause. The dispersive properties of these waves have been determined using wavelet interferometric techniques applied to multipoint observations from the Cluster spacecraft. Comparison of the observed wave dispersion with that expected for drift-kinetic Alfvén waves shows close agreement. The waves propagate outwards from the X line suggesting that reconnection is a kinetic Alfvén wave source. Energetic O+ ions observed in these waves indicate that reconnection is a driver of auroral ion outflow.
authors.affiliation: Space Science Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chaston
authors.forename: T D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Phan
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Bonnell
authors.forename: F S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Mozer
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Acuńa
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Balogh
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Andre
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Reme
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fazakerley