Physics – Plasma Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011agufmsm51b2098p&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2011, abstract #SM51B-2098
Physics
Plasma Physics
[2744] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetotail, [2764] Magnetospheric Physics / Plasma Sheet, [2790] Magnetospheric Physics / Substorms, [7835] Space Plasma Physics / Magnetic Reconnection
Scientific paper
We investigate THEMIS observations on 28 February 2008 between 7:00 and 8:00 UT. Using the AM-03 adapted Tsyganenko model we found that the change in the Z-component of the solar wind velocity between 7:09 and 7:24 UT forced stronger bending of the Earth's magnetotail in the positive ZGSM-direction downtail from 9 Re. The final bend angle reached 30 degrees. The bending appeared to be the reason for the negative gradient in the ZGSM-component of the magnetic field (dBZ/dX) in the plasma sheet. The negative dBZ/dX can be a free energy source for the drift-kink and ballooning/interchange instabilities in the plasma sheet, which can be seen as plasma sheet flapping. Indeed, the plasma sheet started to exhibit flapping oscillations near the bending point at the radial distance 11 Re. The amplitude of the oscillations has grown substantially with larger bending angles after 7:12 UT. The value of the dBZ/dX continued becoming more negative up to 7:38 UT. At 7:30 UT the region of the plasma sheet flapping extended to 16 Re downtail. Between 7:30 and 7:39 UT THEMIS observed gradual vanishing of the pressure gradient between 11 Re and 16 Re, Finally, at 7:39 UT THEMIS detected earthward plasma flows at the radial distance 11 Re and tailward plasma flows at 16 to 29 Re downtail. Simultaneously, at the footpoints of the field lines leading to the THEMIS spacecraft, the THEMIS all-sky camera array observed a substorm breakup arc. We discuss the possible relationship between the current sheet bending and the evolution of the current sheet instability that may relate to the substorm onset.
Angelopoulos Vassilis
Artemyev A.
Baumjohann Wolfgang
Glassmeier K.-
Kubyshkina M.
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