Implications of multipoint observations of substorms in the inner magnetotail

Details Implications of multipoint observations of substorms in the inner magnetotail Implications of multipoint observations of substorms in the inner magnetotail

Aug 1990

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1990esasp.311...69l&link_type=abstract

In ESA, Plasma Astrophysics p 69-75 (SEE N91-15046 06-90)

Physics

Auroras, Current Sheets, Earth Magnetosphere, Geomagnetic Tail, Storms (Meteorology), Evolution (Development), Magnetic Field Reconnection, Magnetic Fields, Plasmas (Physics)

Scientific paper

Two case studies of substorms in the inner magnetotail during which multipoint observations were available were studied. These events suggest that the disruption of the cross tail current begins relatively close to the Earth and has a radially outward component of expansion. The following phenomenological models for the evolution of substorms are proposed. At substorm onset at portion of the earthward edge of the cross tail current becomes unstable and begins to disrupt. Within the disruption region, plasma is energized and the magnetic fields relaxes to a more dipolar configuration. The disruption and the resulting current wedge spread longitudinally and radially down the tail, corresponding to the longitudinal and poleward expansion of auroral bulge in the ionosphere. As the disruption spreads down the tail it may evolve into a reconnection region that severs a portion of the plasma sheet and produces a plasmoid; however, this need not occur during every substorm. This scenario for the evolution of substorms reconciles recent observations that suggest that the substorm neutral line rarely forms inside 20 R sub E, although current sheet disruption was frequently observed in the neighborhood of 8 R sub E.

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