Determination of reconnected flux via remote sensing

Magnetic reconnection is one of the most fundamental processes in the magnetosphere. We present here a simple method to determine the essential parameters of reconnection such as reconnected flux and location of the reconnection site out of single spacecraft data via remote sensing. On the basis of a time-dependent reconnection model, the dependence of the reconnected flux on the magnetic field z-component Bz is shown. The integral of Bz over time is proportional to the reconnected flux and depends on the distance between the reconnection site and the actual position where Bz is measured. This distance can be estimated from analysis of magnetic field Bz data. We apply our method to Cluster measurements in the Earth's magnetotail.