Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011agufmsm33a2128x&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2011, abstract #SM33A-2128
Physics
[2704] Magnetospheric Physics / Auroral Phenomena, [2721] Magnetospheric Physics / Field-Aligned Currents And Current Systems, [2736] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetosphere/Ionosphere Interactions, [2764] Magnetospheric Physics / Plasma Sheet
Scientific paper
The plasma pressure spatial distribution and the magnetic field in force balance with it determine the distribution of the Field-Aligned Current (FAC) in the quasi-static near-Earth plasma sheet. The time evolution of the azimuthal plasma pressure gradient during undisturbed periods is of particular importance in leading to the evolution of FACs, which strongly affect the ionospheric current circulation and the aurora formation before dynamical processes strike, e.g., substorms. Xing et al. (2011) demonstrated by case study that the plasma sheet pressure gradient at ~11 RE near the substorm onset meridian undergoes a substantial duskward enhancement shortly before the onset as identified from the auroral poleward expansion. The increased upward FAC driven by this pressure gradient enhancement leads to the thin onset arc intensification from which the poleward expansion initiates. The mechanism of the formation of such a transient duskward pressure gradient is still an open question. In the present study, we employ the multi-THEMIS spacecraft in azimuthal conjunction -at ~-11 RE and examine the ion flux and distributions during the period of pressure gradient enhancement. Strong field-aligned ion flux enhancements covering the energy range from several KeV to above 25KeV were observed by the spacecraft identifying the higher pressure increase, while at the same time the ion distributions show substantial field-aligned, mushroom-like shift in velocity space. These resemble the ion acceleration ahead of earthward moving dipolarization fronts in a highly stretched magnetic field during the late growth phase. The local plasma develops strong transient parallel anisotropy due to the ion acceleration. On the other hand, the spacecraft observing the lower pressure increase found weaker or no ion flux enhancements and had nearly isotropic distributions. Due to these spatial differences, similar transient pressure gradient enhancements in the dawnward direction were also found for some events. These suggest that the transient azimuthal pressure gradient enhancement near the onset meridian could result from the azimuthal difference of the ion acceleration caused by the localized dipolarization fronts that reach the near-Earth plasma sheet at the onset meridian. The associated transient upward FAC enhancement, which leads to the thin onset arc intensification, would thus be related to the current pair generated in the plasma compression region ahead of the dipolarization front. Thus the earthward penetrating plasma flow channels could play a dominant role in leading to substorm onset.
Angelopoulos Vassilis
Auster Uli
Carlson Carl W.
Donovan Eric
Larson Davin E.
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