Abstract
This paper studies substorm influences in the polar magnetosphere using data from the POLAR magnetic field experiment (MFE). The POLAR spacecraft remains in the high altitude polar magnetosphere for extended periods around apogee. There it can stay at nearly constant altitude through all phases of a substorm, which was not possible on previous missions. We report such an event on March 28, 1996. Ground magnetometers monitored substorm activity, while the POLAR spacecraft, directly over the pole at (−0.8, −0.6, 8.5) RE in GSM coordinates, observed a corresponding perturbation in the total magnetic field strength. The total magnetic field first increased, then recovered toward quiet levels, consistent with erosion of magnetic flux from the dayside magnetosphere, followed by transport of that flux to the magnetotail, and eventual onset of tail reconnection and the return of that magnetic flux to the dayside magnetosphere.
Department
Physics
Publication Date
6-15-1997
Journal Title
Geophysical Research Letters
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1029/97GL01405
Document Type
Article
Recommended Citation
Kawano, H.; Le, G.; Russell, C. T.; Rostoker, G.; Mukai, T.; and Spence, Harlan E., "Initial POLAR MFE observation of substorm signatures in the polar magnetosphere" (1997). Geophysical Research Letters. 295.
https://scholars.unh.edu/physics_facpub/295
Rights
Copyright 1997 by the American Geophysical Union.