Implosion in the Magnetotail

Abstract

Undoubtedly, the most lively manifestation of the dynamic nature of the earth’s magnetosphere is the auroral break-up. The magnetospheric phenomena that are associated with this explosive release of energy have been the aim of intense research efforts in recent years, and the term magnetospheric substorm has been introduced to designate these phenomena as a whole. The ‘polar magnetic substorm’ is the manifestation of the magnetospheric substorm in the polar magnetic field. Other aspects of the magnetospheric substorm are similarly called ‘auroral substorm,’ ionospheric substorm,’ etc. (Akasofu, 1968). The magnetospheric substorm represents a process in which plasma is accelerated and electric current is generated at the expense of the magnetic field energy stored in the magnetotail.