1. Prelude to THEMIS tail conjunction study
- Author
-
Michael G. Henderson, G. K. Parks, L. M. Kistler, Georg Gustafsson, H. Rème, Y. Zheng, Yongliang Zhang, M. W. Dunlop, F. S. Mozer, V. Angelopoulos, A. T. Y. Lui, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory [Laurel, MD] (APL), Space Sciences Laboratory [Berkeley] (SSL), University of California [Berkeley], University of California-University of California, Centre d'étude spatiale des rayonnements (CESR), Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, University of New Hampshire (UNH), Space Science and Technology Department [Didcot] (RAL Space), STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL), Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)-Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Swedish Institute of Space Physics [Kiruna] (IRF), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), University of California [Berkeley] (UC Berkeley), University of California (UC)-University of California (UC), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), and Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- Subjects
Atmospheric Science ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,[SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences ,Time sequence ,01 natural sciences ,Plasma flow ,0103 physical sciences ,Substorm ,Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous) ,lcsh:Science ,010303 astronomy & astrophysics ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,[SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean, Atmosphere ,lcsh:QC801-809 ,Geology ,Astronomy and Astrophysics ,Geophysics ,lcsh:QC1-999 ,lcsh:Geophysics. Cosmic physics ,Time history ,13. Climate action ,Space and Planetary Science ,Geostationary orbit ,lcsh:Q ,lcsh:Physics - Abstract
A close conjunction of several satellites (LANL, GOES, Polar, Geotail, and Cluster) distributed from the geostationary altitude to about 16 RE downstream in the tail occurred during substorm activity as indicated by global auroral imaging and ground-based magnetometer data. This constellation of satellites resembles what is planned for the THEMIS (Time History of Events and Macroscopic Interactions during Substorms) mission to resolve the substorm controversy on the location of the substorm expansion onset region. In this article, we show in detail the dipolarization and dynamic changes seen by these satellites associated with two onsets of substorm intensification activity. In particular, we find that dipolarization at ~16 RE downstream in the tail can occur with dawnward electric field and without plasma flow, just like some near-Earth dipolarization events reported previously. The spreading of substorm disturbances in the tail coupled with complementary ground observations indicates that the observed time sequence on the onsets of substorm disturbances favors initiation in the near-Earth region for this THEMIS-like conjunction.
- Published
- 2007