Cluster observations of complex 3D magnetic structures at the magnetopause -: art. no. L19805

On June 30, 2001, around 0530 UT, Cluster was moving along the magnetopause with spacecraft on both sides of the discontinuity. The configuration was 'quasi-ideal' with magnetic field and plasma flow almost aligned in the magnetosheath and nearly anti-parallel to the magnetospheric field. Cluster observed several perturbations with leading and trailing edges corresponding respectively to tangential and rotational discontinuities. They present a complex 3D topology, consistent with the inter-linking of flux tubes resulting from reconnections occurring at different sites.