Abstract
Most substorm researchers assume substorms to be caused by a unique large-scale process. However, a critical evaluation of substorm observations indicates that a new paradigm is needed to understand the substorm phenomenon and the magnetospheric dynamics in general. It is proposed here that substorms involve a number of physical processes covering over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. Potential candidates include the kinetic or shear ballooning instability, the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, the cross-field current instability, the tearing instability, and magnetic reconnection. An observational constraint on the qualified process for substorm onset is that it must be associated with magnetic field lines of auroral arcs since substorm onsets start with brightening of a pre-existing auroral arc. Which particular process dominates in a given substorm depends on the present and past states of the magnetosphere as well as the external solar wind. The magnetosphere is almost perpetually driven by the solar wind to be near a critical point and in a metastable state. Magnetospheric disturbances occur sporadically in multiple localized sites. A substorm is realized when the combined effect of these localized disturbances become global in extent, much like the system-wide activity in a sandpile or avalanche model.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aikio, A. T., Sergeev, V. A., Shukhtina, M. A., Vagina, L. I., Angelopoulos, V., and Reeves, G. D.: 1999, ‘Characteristics of Pseudobreakups and Substorms Observed in the Ionosphere, at the Geosynchronous Orbit, and in the Midtail’ J. Geophys. Res. 104, 12263.
Akasofu, S.-I.: 1964, ‘The Development of the Auroral Substorm’ Planet. Space Sci. 12, 273.
Akasofu, S.-I.: 1998, in S. Kokubun and Y. Kamide (eds), ‘The Rise and Fall of Paradigms and Some Long Standing Unsolved Problems in Solar-Terrestrial Physics’ Substorms-4, Terra Scientific Publishing Co., Tokyo, Japan, Pp. 21.
Akasofu, S.-I., Lui, A. T. Y., Meng, C.-I., and Haurwitz, M.: 1978, ‘Need for a Three-Dimensional Analysis of Magnetic Fields in the Magnetotail During Substorms’ Geophys. Res. Lett. 5, 283.
Angelopoulos, V., Baumjohann, W., Kennel, C. F., Coroniti, F. V., Kivelson, M. G., Pellat, R., Lühr, H. and Paschmann, G.: 1992, ‘Bursty Bulk Flow in the Inner Central Plasma Sheet’ J. Geophys. Res. 97, 4027.
Angelopoulos, V., Kennel, C. F., Coroniti, F. V., Pellat, R., Kivelson, M. G., Walker, R. J., Russell, C. T., Baumjohann, W., Feldman, W. C. and Gosling, J. T.: 1994, ‘Statistical Characteristics of Bursty Bulk Flow Events’ J. Geophys. Res. 99, 21257.
Angelopoulos, V., Phan, T. D., Larson, D. E., Mozer, F. S., Lin, R. P., Tsuruda, K., Hayakawa, H., Mukai, T., Kokubun, S., Yamamoto, T., Williams, D. J., McEntire, R. W., Lepping, R. P., Parks, G. K., Brittnacher, M., Germany, G., Spann, J., Singer, H. J. and Yumoto, K.: 1997, ‘Magnetotail Flow Bursts: Association to Global Magnetospheric Circulation, Relationship to Ionospheric Activity and Direct Evidence for Localization’ Geophys. Res. Lett. 24, 2271.
Axford, W. I.: 1994, ‘The Good Old Days’ J. Geophys. Res. 99, 19199.
Bak, P., Tang, C. and Wiesenfeld, K.: 1987, ‘Self-Organized Criticality:An Explanation of 1/f Noise’ Phys. Rev. Lett. 59, 381.
Baker, D. N., Pulkkinen, T. I., Büchner, J. and Klimas, A. J.: 1999, ‘Substorms: A Global Instability of the Magnetosphere-Ionosphere System’ J. Geophys. Res. 104, 14601.
Baumjohann, W., Paschmann, G. and Luhr, H.: 1990, ‘Characteristics of High-Speed Ion Flows in the Plasma Sheet’ J. Geophys. Res. 95, 3801.
de la Beaujardiere, O., Lyons, L. R., Ruohoniemi, J. M., Friis-Christensen, E., Danielson, C., Rich, F. R. and Newell, P. T.: 1994, ‘Quiet-Time Intensifications Along the Poleward Auroral Boundary Near Midnight’ J. Geophys. Res. 99, 287.
Bhattacharjee, A., Ma, Z. W. and Wang, X.: 1998, ‘Ballooning Instability of a Thin Current Sheet in the High-Lundquist Number Magnetotail’ Geophys. Res. Lett. 25, 861.
Brittnacher, M., Quest, K. B. and Karimabadi, H.: 1998, ‘A Study of the Effect of Pitch Angle and Spatial Diffusion on Tearing Instability Using a New Finite Element Based Linear Code’ J. Geophys. Res. 103, 4587.
Chapman, S. C., Watkins, N. W., Dendy, R. O., Helander, P. and Rowlands, G.: 1998, ‘A Simple Avalanche Model as an Analogue for Magnetospheric Activity’ Geophys. Res. Lett. 25, 2397.
Chang, T. S. C.: 1992, ‘Low Dimensional Behavior and Symmetry Breaking of Stochastic Systems Near Criticality — Can These Effects be Observed in Space and in the Laboratory?’ IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 20, 691.
Chang, T. S. C.: 1998, in J. L. Horwitz, D. L. Gallagher, and W. K. Peterson (eds), ‘Sporadic Localized Reconnection and Multiscale Intermittent Turbulence in the Magnetotail, in Encounter Between Global Observations and Models in the ISTP era’ AGU, Washington, D. C., P. 193.
Chang, T.: 1999, ‘Self-Organized Criticality, Multi-Fractal Spectra, Sporadic Localized Reconnections and Intermittent Turbulence in the Magnetotail’ Phys. Plasmas 6, 4137.
Cheng, C. Z. and Lui, A. T. Y.: 1998, ‘Kinetic Ballooning Instability for Substorm Onset and Current Disruption Observed by AMPTE/CCE’ Geophys. Res. Lett. 25, 4091.
Consolini, G.: in Aiello, et al. (eds), 1997, ‘Sandpile Cellular Automata and Magnetospheric Dynamics’ Proceedings of Cosmic Physics in the Year 2000, Vol. 58, SIF, Bologna, Italy, P. 123.
Consolini, G. and Michelis, P. D.: 1998, ‘Non-Gaussian Distribution Function of AE-Index Fluctuations: Evidence for Time Intermittency’ Geophys. Res. Lett. 25, 4087.
Consolini, G. and Lui, A. T. Y.: 1999, ‘Sign-Singularity Analysis of Current Disruption’ Geophys. Res. Lett. 26, 1673.
Dendy, R. O. and Helander, P.: 1998, ‘On the Appearance and Non-Appearance of Self-Organized Criticality in Sandpiles’ Phys. Rev. E57, 3641.
Dungey, J. W.: 1961, ‘Interplanetary Magnetic Field and the Auroral Zones’ Phys. Rev. Lett. 6 (2), 47.
Erickson, G. M.: 1995, ‘Substorm Theories: United They Stand, Divided They Fall’ Rev. Geophys. 33, 685.
Frank, L. A., Sigwarth, J. B. and Paterson, W. R.: 1998, in S. Kokubun and Y. Kamide (eds.), ‘High-Resolution Global Images of Earth's Auroras During Substorms’ Substorms-4, Terra Scientific Publishing Co., Tokyo, Japan, P. 3.
Gold, T.: 1959, ‘Motions in the Magnetosphere of the Earth’ J. Geophys. Res. 64, 1219.
Hones, E.W., Jr.: 1973, ‘Plasma Flow in the Plasma Sheet and its Relation to Substorms’ Radio Sci. 8, 979.
Hoyle, F.: 1958, Recent Researches in Solar Physics, Cambridge University Press, New York, Sec. 27.
Huba, J. D., Gladd, N. T. and Papadopoulos, K.: 1977, ‘The Lower-Hybrid-Drift Instability as a Source of Anomalous Resistivity for Magnetic Field Line Reconnection’ Geophys. Res. Lett. 4, 125.
Jacquey, C., Sauvaud, J. A., Dandouras, J. and Korth, A.: 1993, ‘Tailward Propagating Cross-Tail Current Disruption and Dynamics of Near-Earth Tail: A Multi-Point Measurement Analysis’ Geophys. Res. Lett. 20, 983.
Ji, H., Yamada, M., Hsu, S. and Kulsrud, R.: 1998, ‘Experimental Test of the Sweet-Parker Model of Magnetic Reconnection’ Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 3256.
Krimigis, S.M. and Sarris, E. T.: 1979, in S.-I. Akasofu (ed.), ‘Energetic Particle Bursts in the Earth's Magnetotail’ Dynamics of the Magnetosphere, P. 599. AUTHOR, PUBLISHER AND TOWN PLEASE
Kropotkin, A. P., Trubachev, O. O. and Lui, A. T. Y.: 1999, ‘Nonlinear Instability of the Geomagnetotail Current Sheet Combining the Features of Tearing and Cross-Field Current Instabilities’ J. Geophys. Res. 104, 371.
Liou, K., Meng, C.-I., Lui, A. T. Y., Newell, P. T., Brittnacher, M., Parks, G., Reeves, G. D., Anderson, R. R. and Yumoto, K.: 1999, ‘On Relative Timing in Substorm Onset Signatures’ J. Geophys. Res. 104, 22807.
Lui, A. T. Y.: 1979, in S.-I. Akasofu (ed.), ‘Observations on Plasma Sheet Dynamics During Magnetospheric Substorms’ Dynamics of the Magnetosphere, P. 563.
Lui, A. T. Y.: 1991a, ‘A Synthesis of Magnetospheric Substorm Models’ J. Geophys. Res. 96, 1849.
Lui, A. T. Y.: 1991b, in G. R. Wilson (ed.), ‘Plasma Transport in the Earth's Magnetotail’ Modeling Magnetospheric Plasma Processes, p. 41.
Lui, A. T. Y.: 1996, ‘Current Disruption in the Earth's Magnetosphere: Observations and Models’ J. Geophys. Res. 101, 13067.
Lui, A. T. Y.: 1998, ‘Multiscale and Intermittent Nature of Current Disruption in the Magnetotail’ Physics Space Plasmas 15, 233.
Lui, A. T. Y.: 1999, ‘Particle Acceleration in Disruption of the Tail Current Sheet’ Physics Chem. Earth 24, 259.
Lui, A. T. Y. and Meng, C.-I.: 1979, ‘Relevance of Southward Magnetic Fields in the Neutral Sheet to Anisotropic Distribution of Energetic Electrons and Substorm Activity’ AJ. Geophys. Res. 84, 5817.
Lui, A. T. Y. and Murphree, J. S.: 1998, ‘A Substorm Model with Onset Location Tied to an Auroral Arc’ Geophys. Res. Lett. 25, 1269.
Lui, A. T. Y., Meng, C.-I. and Akasofu, S.-I.: 1976, ‘Search for the Magnetic Neutral Line in the Near-Earth Plasma Sheet, l. Critical Re-Examination of Earlier Studies of Magnetic Field Observations’ J. Geophys. Res. 81, 5934.
Lui, A. T. Y., Frank, L. A., Ackerson, K. L., Meng, C.-I. and Akasofu, S.-I.: 1977, ‘Systematic Study of Plasma Flow During Plasma Sheet Thinnings’ J. Geophys. Res. 82, 4815.
Lui, A. T. Y., Lopez, R. E., Krimigis, S. M., McEntire, R.W., Zanetti, L. J. and Potemra, T. A.: 1988, ‘A Case Study of Magnetotail Current Sheet Disruption and Diversion’ Geophys. Res. Lett. 15, 721.
Lui, A. T. Y., Chang, C.-L., Mankofsky, A., Wong, H.-K. and Winske, D.: 1991, ‘A Cross-Field Current Instability for Substorm Expansions’ J. Geophys. Res. 96, 11389.
Lui, A. T. Y., Yoon, P. H. and Chang, C.-L.: 1993, ‘Quasi-Linear Analysis of Ion Weibel Instability in the Earth's Neutral Sheet’ J. Geophys. Res. 98, 153.
Lui, A. T. Y., Liou, K., Newell, P. T., Meng, C.-I., Ohtani, S.-I., Kokubun, S., Ogino, T., Brittnacher, M. and Parks, G.: 1998, ‘Plasma and Magnetic Flux Transport Associated with Auroral Breakups’ Geophys. Res. Lett. 25, 4059.
Lui, A. T. Y., Chapman, S. C., Liou, K., Newell, P. T., Meng, C.-I., Brittnacher, M. and Parks, G. K.: 2000, ‘Is the Dynamic Magnetosphere an Avalanching System?’ Geophys. Res. Lett. 27, 911.
Lundin, R.: 1997, ‘Discussion 1: On Merging and Reconnection’ Phys. Chem. Earth 22, 605.
Lyons, L. R. and Pridmore-Brown, D. C.: 1990, ‘Force Balance Near an X Line in a Collisionless Plasma’ J. Geophys. Res. 95, 20903.
Maynard, N. C., Burke, W. J., Basinska, E. M., Erickson, G. M., Hughes, W. J., Singer, H. J., Yahnin, A. G., Hardy, D. A. and Mozer, F. S.: 1996, ‘Dynamics of the Inner Magnetosphere Nnear Times of Substorm Onsets’ J. Geophys. Res. 101, 7705.
Mauk, B. H.: 1986, ‘Quantitative Modeling of the Convection Surge Mechanism of Ion Acceleration’ J. Geophys. Res. 91, 13423.
Nagai, T., Fujimoto, M., Saito, Y., Machida, S., Terasawa, T., Nakamura, R., Yamamoto, T., Mukai, T., Nishida, A. and Kokubun, S.: 1998, ‘Structure and Dynamics of Magnetic Reconnection for Substorm Onsets with Geotail Observations’ J. Geophys. Res. 103, 4419.
Nishida, A. and Nagayama, N.: 1973, ‘Synoptic Survey for the Neutral Line in the Magnetotail During the Substorm Expansion Phase’ J. Geophys. Res. 78, 3782.
Nishida, A. and Hones, E. W., Jr.: 1974, ‘Association of Plasma Sheet Thinning With Neutral Line Formation in the Magnetotail’ J. Geophys. Res. 79, 535.
Ohtani, S., Takahashi, S. K., Zanetti, L. J., Potemra, T. A., McEntire, R.W. and Iijima, T: 1992a, ‘Initial Signatures ofMagnetic Field and Energetic Particle Fluxes at Tail Reconfiguration: Explosive Growth Phase’ J. Geophys. Res. 97, 19311.
Ohtani, S., Takahashi, K. and Russell, C. T.: 1992b, ‘Radial Expansion of the Tail Current Disruption During Substorms: A New Approach to Substorm Onset Region’ J. Geophys. Res. 97, 3129.
Ohtani, S., Anderson, B. J., Sibeck, D. G., Newell, P. T., Zanetti, L. J., Potemra, T. A., Takahashi, K., Lopez, R. E., Angelopoulos, V., Nakamura, R., Klumpar, D. M. and Russell, C. T.: 1993, ‘A Multisatellite Study of a Pseudo-Substorm Onset in the Near-Earth Magnetotail’ J. Geophys. Res. 98, 19355.
Parker, E. N.: 1996, ‘The Alternative Paradigm for Magnetospheric Physics’ J. Geophys. Res. 101, 10587.
Pellat, R., Coroniti, F. V. and Pritchett, P. L.: 1991, ‘Does Ion Tearing Exist?’ Geophys. Res. Lett. 18, 143.
Petrukovich, A. A., Sergeev, V. A., Zelenyi, L. M., Mukai, T., Yamamoto, T., Kokubun, S., Shiokawa, K., Deehr, C. S., Budnick, E. Y., Büchner, J., Federov, A. O., Grigorieva, V. P., Hughes, T. J., Pissarenko, N. F., Romanov, A. A. and Sandahl, I.: 1998, ‘Two Spacecraft Observations of a Reconnection Pulse During an Auroral Breakup’ J. Geophys. Res. 103, 47.
Petschek, H. E.: 1964, ‘Magnetic Field Annihilation’ AAS-NASA Symposium on the Physics of Solar Flares, NASA Spec. Publ. SP-50, p. 425.
Roux, A., Perraut, S., Robert, P., Morane, A., Pedersen, A., Korth, A., Kremser, G., Aparicio, B., Rodgers, D. and Pellinen, R.: 1991, ‘Plasma Sheet Instability Related to the Westward Traveling Surge’ J. Geophys. Res. 96, 17697.
Samson, J. C., Wallis, D. D., Hughes, T. J., Creutzberg, F., Ruohoniemi, J. M. and Greenwald, R. A.: 1992, ‘Substorm Intensifications and Field Line Resonances in the Nightside Magnetosphere’ J. Geophys. Res. 97, 8495.
Sergeev, V., Bosinger, T. and Lui, A. T. Y.: 1986, ‘Impulsive Processes in the Magnetotail During Substorm Expansion’ J. Geophys. 60, 175.
Sergeev, V. A., Angelopoulos, V., Mitchell, E. G. and Russell, C. T.: 1998, ‘In situ Observations of Magnetotail Reconnection Prior to the Onset of a Small Substorm’ J. Geophys. Res. 103, 19121.
Shay, M. A., Drake, J. F., Denton, R. E. and Biskamp, D.: 1998, ‘Structure of the Dissipation Region During Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection’ J. Geophys. Res. 103, 9165.
Sitnov, M. I. and Lui, A. T. Y.: 1999, ‘Cross-Field Current Instability as a Catalyst of the Explosive Reconnection in the Geomagnetotail’ J. Geophys. Res. 104, 6941.
Sitnov, M. I., Malova, H. V. and Lui, A. T. Y.: 1997, ‘Quasineutral Sheet Filamentation Instability Induced by Electron Preferential Acceleration from Stochasticity’ J. Geophys. Res. 102, 163.
Takahashi, K., Zanetti, L. J., Lopez, R. E., McEntire, R. E., Potemra, T. A. and Yumoto, K.: 1987, ‘Disruption of the Magnetotail Current Sheet Observed by AMPTE/CCE’ Geophys. Res. Lett. 14, 1019.
Ugai, M.: 1994, ‘Computer Studies on the Fast ReconnectionMechanism Under an Externally Driven Boundary Condition’ Phys. Plasmas 1, 1070.
Ugai, M.: 1998, in S. Kokubun and Y. Kamide (eds), ‘What is the Basic Physical Mechanism of Fast Reconnection Development Responsible for Substorms?’ Substorms-4, Terra Scientific Publishing Co., Tokyo, Japan, P. 449.
Vassiliadis, D. V., Sharma, A. S., Eastman, T. E. and Papadopoulos, K.: 1990, ‘Low-Dimensional Chaos in Magnetospheric Activity from AE Time Series’ Geophys. Res. Lett. 17, 1841.
Vasyliunas, V. M.: 1996, in T. Chang and J. R. Jasperse (eds), ‘Time Scale for Magnetic Field Changes After Substorm Onset: Constraints From Dimensional Analysis’ Physics of Space Plasmas, MIT Center for Geo/Cosmo Plasma Physics, Cambridge, MA, P. 553.
Vasyliunas, V. M.: 1998, in S. Kokubun and Y. Kamide (eds), ‘Fundamentals of Current Description’ Substorms-4, Terra Scientific Publishing Co., Tokyo, Japan, p. 9.
Wiechen, H., Büchner, J. and Otto, A.: 1996, ‘Reconnection in the Near-Earth Plasma Sheet: A Three-Dimensional Model’ J. Geophys. Res. 101, 24911.
Wiens, R. G. and Rostoker, G.: 1975, ‘Characteristics of the Development of theWestward Electrojet During the Expansive Phase of Magnetospheric Substorms’ J. Geophys. Res. 80, 2109.
Winglee, R. M., Lui, A. T. Y., Lin, R. P., Lepping, R. P., Kokubun, S., Rostoker, G. and Samson, J. C.: 1998, in J. L. Horwitz, D. L. Gallagher, and W. K. Peterson (eds), ‘Magnetospheric-Ionospheric Activity During an Isolated Substorm: A Comparison Between WIND/Geotail/CANOPUS Observations andModeling’ Geospace Mass and Energy Flow, AGU Geophys.Monogr. Ser.,AGU, Washington, D. C., p. 181.
Yamada, M., Ji, H., Hsu, S., Carter, T., Kulsrud, R., Bretz, N., Jobes, F., Ono, Y. and Perkins, F.: 1997, ‘Study of Driven Magnetic Reconnection in a Laboratory Plasma’ Phys. Plasmas 4 (5), 1936.
Yamauchi, M. and Lui, A. T. Y.: 1997, ‘Modified MHD Waves in a Current Sheet in Space’ Physics of Plasmas 4, 4382.
Yoon, P. H. and Lui, A. T. Y.: 1993, ‘Nonlinear Analysis of Generalized Cross-Field Current Instability’ Phys. Fluids B5 (3), 836.
Yoon, P. H. and Lui, A. T. Y.: 1998, in S. Kokubun and Y. Kamide (eds), ‘Cross-Field Current Instability and Substorm Expansion Onset’ Substorms-4, Terra Scientific Publishing Co., Tokyo, Japan, p. 387.
Zelenyi, L. M., Petrukovich, A. A., Budnick, E. Y., Romanov, S. A. Sergeev, V. A., Mukai, T., Yamamoto, T., Kokubun, S., Shiokawa, K., Deehr, C. S., Büchner, J. and Sandahl, I.: 1998, in S. Kokubun and Y. Kamide (eds), ‘Substorm Onset Models and Observations’ Substorms-4, Terra Scientific Publishing Co., Tokyo, Japan, p. 327.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lui, A. A Multiscale Model for Substorms. Space Science Reviews 95, 325–345 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005217304749
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005217304749