Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufmsm41a1841m&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #SM41A-1841
Physics
[2723] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetic Reconnection, [2744] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetotail, [2760] Magnetospheric Physics / Plasma Convection, [2790] Magnetospheric Physics / Substorms
Scientific paper
Based on the results of our superposed epoch analysis of Geotail data, we have proposed a catapult (slingshot) current sheet relaxation model in which earthward flows are produced in the central plasma sheet (CPS) due to the catapult (slingshot) current sheet relaxation, together with the rapid enhancement of Poynting flux toward the CPS in the lobe around X ~ -15 Re about 4 min before the substrom onset. These earthward flows are characterized by plasma pressure decrease and large amplitude magnetic field fluctuations. When these flows reach X ~ 12Re in the magnetotail, they give significant disturbances to the inner magnetosphere to initiate some instability such as a ballooning instability or other instabilities, and the substorm starts in the inner magnetosphere. The occurrence of the magnetic reconnection is a natural consequence of the initial convective earthward flows, because the relaxation of a highly stretched catapult current sheet produces a very thin current at its tailward edge being surrounded by intense magnetic fields which were formerly the off-equatorial lobe magnetic fields. Recently, Nishimura et al. [2010] reported that the substorm onset begins when faint poleward discrete arcs collide with equatorward quiet arcs. The region of earthward convective flows correlatively moves earthward prior to the onset. Thus, this region of the earthward convective flows seems to correspond to the faint poleward discrete arcs. Interestingly, our statistical analysis shows that the earthward convective flows are not produced by the magnetic reconnection, but they are attributed to the dominance of the earthward JxB force over the tailward pressure associated with the progress of the plasma sheet thinning.
Ieda A.
Machida Shiki
Miyashita Yuki
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