The effect of non-storm time substorms on the ring current dynamics

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Abstract
Abstract During geomagnetically active times such as geomagnetic storms, large amounts of energy can be released into the Earth’s magnetosphere and change the ring current intensity. Previous studies showed that significant enhancement of the ring current was related to geomagnetic storms, while few studies have examined substorm effects on ring current dynamics. In this study, we examine the ring current variation during non-storm time (SYM-H > −50 nT) substorms, especially during super-substorms ( AE > 1000 nT). We perform a statistical analysis of ring current plasma pressure and number flux of various ion species under different substorm conditions, based on Van Allen Probe observations. The plasma pressure and ion fluxes of the ring current increased dramatically during super-substorms, while little change was observed for substorms with AE < 1000 nT. The results shown in this study indicate that a non-storm time super-substorm may also have a significant contribution to the ring current.
Year of Publication
2021
Journal
Earth and Planetary Physics
Volume
5
Number of Pages
eepp2021032
Date Published
06/2021
URL
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.26464/epp2021032
DOI
https://doi.org/10.26464/epp2021032
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