Abstract
It is suggested that changes in the electric field in the night-side auroral zone and polar cap observed during the expansion phase of a substorm are related to a change in the magnetospheric flow pattern. During the substorm growth phase the flow appears to be fairly uniform across the width of the magnetosphere (uniform electric field across the tail), while at expansion the observations are consistent with the magnetospheric potential drop in the tail falling across a narrow region near the dusk magnetopause. Such non-uniform electric fields in the tail have been predicted by recent theoretical work. A rather speculative interpretation of events during a magnetospheric substorm is presented.
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Cowley, S.W.H. The ionospheric electric field during substorms — An interpretation based on non-uniform reconnection in the geomagnetic tail. Astrophys Space Sci 20, 491–497 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00642218
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00642218