Evolution of the auroral oval during a weak substorm

Abstract

The present paper deals with a detailed study of the dynamics of the polar cap boundaries. The study involves the data from two satellites of the APEX project, and the data from three DMSP satellites. The APEX (Active Plasma Experiment) satellites moving along the polar orbit provide charged particle measurements in a small spatial scale (due to variable distance between both spacecrafts), up to 2 000 km. The large scale changes are studied by the comparison of the APEX and the DMSP (Defense Meteorological Satellite Program) data. Different regions are identified using the characteristics of the precipitating particles in the energy range 0.1–20 keV which have been registered onboard all satellites. This satellite configuration allows us to determine the evolution of the small structures as well as the motion of the whole precipitating region. The main attention is concentrated on the rising phase of the substorms when the width of the auroral oval decreases with the increasing geomagnetic activity and the velocity of the auroral oval motion can reach 0.2° per minute. The observed phenomena are compared with the changes of the interplanetary magnetic field and the solar wind parameters as provided by the IMP-8 spacecraft.