GEOTAIL Spacecraft Observations of Near-Tail Dipolarization and Plasma Flow during the Substorm Expansion

oleh: D.-Y. Lee, K. W. Min, E. S. Lee

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: The Korean Space Science Society 2000-12-01

Deskripsi

Some observational features on the July 5, 1995 substorm event are presented using the data from the Geotail satellite which was located at near-Earth plasma sheet, XGSE ¡­ -9.6 R_E, and quite close to the onset sector. Near-tail magnetic field reveals the typical dipolarizations starting at ¡­ 1104 UT until ¡­ 1113 UT. During the interval, two dipolarizations occur: First dipolarization is not strong and accompanies only weak (<150 km/s) earthward/dawnward plasma flows, and in the second dipolarization that follows shortly, rather large amplitude magnetic fluctuations are seen, but it initiates with no significant earthward flow. The earthward bursty flow with a maximum speed of > 450 km/s was observed, but delayed by ¡­ 1 min with respect to the second dipolarization initiation. These features are in conflict with the flow-braking scenario for the substorm. Rather they fit better in the near-tail current disruption scenario.