Document Type
Article
Abstract
Due to solar wind-magnetosphere interactions, the Earth's magnetic field lines stretch into a long, comet-shaped magnetotail, which extends thousands of miles away from the Earth. Bursty Bulk Flows (BBFs) are transient, high-speed ion bulk flows in the magnetotail that play an essential role in energy and mass transport. Characterized by their short-lived duration, they are related to magnetic reconnection events. This investigation focuses on being able to identify BBFs using the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) probes, a mission consisting of four probes arranged in a tetrahedron to study the Earth’s magnetosphere. We examine parameters such as energy spectra, spin bulk velocity, temperature, and current sheets due to ion and electron movement to identify BBFs, and take a step forward in understanding their generation mechanisms and impacts on the Earth’s thermosphere and ionosphere.
Disciplines
Physics
Publication Date
2026
Language
English
Faculty Mentor of Honors Project
Zihan Wang
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Tanvir, Fariza, "Bursty Bulk Flows: The What, the Why, and Their Impacts on the Earth" (2026). 2026 Spring Honors Capstones Projects. 2.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/honors_spring2026/2