Abstract
A tailward moving plasmoid (flux rope) was observed by the GEOTAIL spacecraft at [-22, 5, -3 RE GSE] after a period with strong geomagnetic activity on November 27, 1995. The structure exhibited classic plasmoid like signatures; bipolar Bz, a strong core field and tailward streaming ions. Measurements from the solar wind and the ground show that the GEOTAIL-observations were correlated with a change in the IMF and a substorm onset. Together, these observations suggest that the flux rope was launched as a result of magnetic reconnection during substorm onset, and that the reconnection site was located earthward of -22 RE. To our knowledge, observations of similar substorm associated flux rope formation and tailward streaming ions at such distances have not been reported earlier.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Hughes, W. J. and Sibeck, D. (1987) On the 3-dimensional structure of plasmoids. Geophysical Research Letters, 14, 636–639.
Hones, E. W. (1976) The magnetotail: its generation and dissipation. In D. J. Williams, editor, Physics of Solar Planetary Environments, AGU, Washington D.C. p 559–591.
Hones, E. W. (1979) Transient phenomena in the magnetotail and their relation to substorms. Space Sci. Rev, 23, 393–410.
Richardson, I. G. and Cowley, S. W. H. (1985) Plasmoid associated energetic ion burst in the deep geomagnetic tail: properties of the boundary layer. J. Geophys. Res, 90(Al2), 12133–12158.
Slavin, J. A., Baker, D. N., Craven, J. D., Elphic, R. C., Fairfield, D. H., Frank, L. A., Galvin, A. B., Hughes, W. J., Manka, R. H., Mitchell, D. G., Richardson, I. G., Sanderson, T. R., Sibeck, D. J., Smith, E. J. and Zwickl, R. D. (1989) CDAW 8 observations of plasmoid signatures in the geomagnetic tail: an assessment. J. Geophys. Res, 94(A11), 15153–15175.
Moldwin, M. B., and Hughes, W. J. (1992) On the formation and evolution of plasmoids: a survey of ISEE 3 geotail data. J. Geophys. Res, 97(Al2), 19259–19282.
Sergeev, V. A., Angelopoulos, V., Mitchell, D. G. and Russell, C. T. (1995) In situ observations of magnetotail reconnection prior to the onset of a small substorm. J. Geophys. Res, 100(A10), 19121–19133.
Baumjohann, W., Paschmann, G. and Lühr, H. (1990) Characteristics of high-speed ion flows in the plasma sheet. J. Geophys. Res, 95, 3801–3809.
Doke, T., Fujii, M., Fujimoto, M., Fujiki, K., Fukui, T., Gliem, E, Güttler, W., Hasebe, N., Hayashi, T., Ito, T., Itsumi, K., Kashiwagi, T., Kikuchi, J., Kohno, T., Kokubun, S., Livi, S., Maezawa, K., Moriya, H., Munakata, K., Murakami, H., Muraki, Y., Nagoshi, H., Nakamoto, A., Nagata, K., Nishida, A., Rathje, R., Shino, T., Sommer, H., Takashima, T,. Terasawa, T., Ullaland, S., Weiss, W., Wilken, B., Yamamoto,T., Yanagimachi, T., and Yanagita, S. (1994) The energetic particle spectrometer HEP onboard the GEOTAIL spacecraft. J. Geomagn. Geoelectr, 46,713–733.
Wilken, B., Güttler, W., Korth, A., Livi, S., Weiss, W., Gliem, E, Müller, A., Rathje, R., Fritz, T. A., Fennel, J. F., Borg, H., Grande, M., Hall, D., McKenna-Lawlor, S., Sarris, E. T., Tanskanen, P., Ullaland, S., SOraas, F., and Ersland, L. (1993) Rapid: The imaging energetic particle spectrometer on Cluster. In W. R. Burke, editor, Cluster: mission, payload and supporting activities, ESA Publication Division, ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands, p185–218.
Kokubun, S., Yamamoto, T., Acuna, M., Hayashi, K., Shiokawa, K., and Kawano, H. (1994) The GEOTAIL Magnetic Field Experiment. J. Geomagn. Geoelectr, 46, 7–21.
Richardson, I. G., Cowley, S. W. H., Hones, E. W., and Bame, S. J. (1987) Plasmoid-associated energetic ion bursts in the deep geomagnetic tail: Properties of plasmoid and the postplasmoid plasma sheet. J. Geophys. Res,92(Al2), 9997–10013.
Scholer, M., Baker, D. N., Bame, S. J., Baumjohann, W., Gloeckler, G., Ipavich, F. M., Smith, E. J. and Tsurutani, B. T. (1985) Correlated observations of substorm effects in the near-Earth region and the deep magnetotail. J. Geophys. Res, 90, 4021–4026..
Lyons. L. R. (1995) A new theory of magnetospheric substorms. J. Geophys. Res, 100, 19069–19081.
Henderson, M. G., Reeves, G. D., Belian, R. D., and Murphree, J. S. (1996) Observations of magneto-spheric substorms occurring with no apparent solar wind/IMF trigger. J. Geophys. Res, 101,10773–10791.
Angelopoulos, V., Sergeev, V. S., Mozer, F. S., Tsuruda, K., Kokubun, S., Yamamoto, T., Lepping, R., Reeves, G. D., and Friis-Christensen, E (1996) Spontaneous substorm onset during a prolonged period of steady, southward interplanetary magnetic field. J. Geophys. Res, 101(A11), 24583–24598.
Sergeev, V. A., Dmitrieva, N. P., and Bakova, E. S. (1986) Triggering of substorm expansion by the IMF directional discontinuities: Time delay analysis. Planet. Space Sci, 34(11), 1109–1118.
Kaufmann, R. L. (1987) Substorm currents: Growth phase and onset. J. Geophys. Res, 92, 7471–7486.
Rostoker, G., Akasofu, S.-I., Foster, J., Greenwald, R. A., Kamide, Y., Kawasaki, K., Lui, A. T. Y., McPherron, R. L., and Russell, C. T. (1980) Magnetospheric substorms - definitions and signatures. J. Geophys. Res, 85, 1663–1668.
Saito, T. (1969) Geomagnetic pulsations. Space Sci. Rev,10,319–412.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1998 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Håland, S. et al. (1998). Observations of Tailward Streaming Ions in the Near-Earth Tail During a Magnetospheric Substorm. In: Moen, J., Egeland, A., Lockwood, M. (eds) Polar Cap Boundary Phenomena. NATO ASI Series, vol 509. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5214-3_30
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5214-3_30
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-6195-7
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-5214-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive