MMS Observation of Intermittent Energy Dissipation in Magnetic Reconnection Diffusion Region

<p>Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) data are used to investigate the energy dissipation in a&#160; reconnection diffusion region at the magnetopause. The four MMS spacecraft were separated by about 10 km such that comparative study between each spacecraft within the diffusion region can be implemented. Similar magnetic field and electric current behavior between each spacecraft indicates the formation of a quasi-homogeneous diffusion region structure. However, we find that the energy dissipation results between each spacecraft are different due to the temporal or spatial effect of the out-of-plane merging electric field (E_M) during the dissipation region. Our study suggests that the intermittent energy dissipation in the reconnection dissipation region can be a common phenomenon, even under a stable diffusion region structure.</p>