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Substorm associated traveling compression regions in the distant tail: Isee‐3 Geotail observations
Author(s) -
Slavin J. A.,
Smith E. J.,
Tsurutani B. T.,
Sibeck D. G.,
Singer H. J.,
Baker D. N.,
Gosling J. T.,
Hones E. W.,
Scarf F. L.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/gl011i007p00657
Subject(s) - substorm , plasmoid , plasma sheet , compression (physics) , geophysics , physics , event (particle physics) , geology , lobe , inflection point , astrophysics , magnetic field , magnetosphere , magnetic reconnection , geometry , anatomy , thermodynamics , medicine , quantum mechanics , mathematics
While in the lobes of the distant magnetotail, ISEE‐3 encountered regions of compressed magnetic field, δB/B o =0.3‐0.1, at a rate of several per day. The duration of these events was 5 to 20 minutes and they were observed 10 to 30 minutes following the onset of substorm activity near the earth. During each event, the lobe magnetic field tilted first northward and then southward with the inflection point near the time of peak field strength. Following the compression events, the lobe field weakened and retained a southward component for 20 to 40 minutes. It is suggested that these traveling compression regions (TCR’s) are the lobe signatures of plasmoids moving rapidly down the tail in the plasma sheet. Comparison of ISEE‐3 compression event times with substorm onset times yielded propagation speeds of 350 to 750 km/s.