Abstract
The substorm onset as a state transition is investigated from a resistive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation. The simulation uses the finite volume totalvariation diminishing (TVD) scheme on an unstructured grid system to evaluate the magnetosphere-ionosphere (M–I) coupling effect more precisely and to reduce the numerical viscosity in the near-earth plasma sheet. The calculation started from a stationary solution under a northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) condition with non-zero IMF B y. After a southward turning of the IMF, the simulation results show the progress of plasma sheet thinning in the magnetosphere. This thinning is promoted by the drain of closed flux from the plasma sheet occurring under the enhanced convection. In this stage, the reclosure process of open field lines in the plasma sheet, which determines the flux piling up from the midtail to the near-earth plasma sheet, is not so effective, since it is still controlled by the remnant of northward IMF. The substorm onset occurs as an abrupt change of pressure distribution in the near-earth plasma sheet and an intrusion of convection flow into the inner magnetosphere. After the onset, the simulation results reproduce both the dipolarization in the near-earth tail and the near-earth neutral line (NENL) at the midtail, together with plasma injection into the inner magnetosphere and an enhancement of the nightside field-aligned current (FAC). During the dipolarization process, the magnetosphere changes from the force balance in the z direction to the configuration of force balance in the x direction. Thus, the dipolarization is not a mere pile up of the flux ejected from the NENL Associated with the establishment of force balance in the x direction, the pressure inside — 10 Re peaks to self-adjust the restored magnetic tension. It is concluded that the direct cause of these onset processes is the state (phase-space) transition of the convection system from a thinned state to a dipolarized state associated with a self-organizing criticality.
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Tanaka, T. (2005). Two State Transition Model of the Magnetosphere. In: Burton, W., et al. Nonequilibrium Phenomena in Plasmas. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 321. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3109-2_5
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