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A Plasma Pressure Plateau in the Night Sector of the Earth’s Magnetosphere and Its Stability

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Abstract

In this paper, we consider the behavior of the radial distribution of the plasma pressure, magnetic field, and plasma parameter in the night sector of the Earth’s magnetosphere at geocentric distances from 7 to 12 RE that are obtained using the THEMIS mission measurements. The results of measurements on the THEMIS-D and THEMIS-A satellites on February 2009 when the satellites were near the equatorial plane were analyzed. Time intervals are identified when the plasma pressure actually did not change with a change in the distance from the Earth. It is shown that profiles with a pressure plateau can exist stably during the day are destroyed during the period of disturbance and are restored after destruction. The role of the pressure plateau in the formation of the structure of magnetospheric current systems is discussed.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank V. Angelopoulos for using THEMIS mission data, especially D. Larson and R.P. Lin for using SST data, C.W. Carlson and J.P. McFadden for using ESA data, K.H. Glassmeier, U. Austerand, W. Baumjohann for the use of FGM data distributed under the direction of the Technical University of Braunschweig. The authors also thank R. Lepping for the opportunity to use WIND and WDC for Geomagnetism satellite data, and Kyoto for providing geomagnetic indices.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IKI), 117997, Moscow, Russia

    I. P. Kirpichev & E. E. Antonova

  2. Lomonosov Moscow State University Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics (MSU SINP), 119991, Moscow, Russia

    E. E. Antonova

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Translated by A. Ivanov

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Kirpichev, I.P., Antonova, E.E. A Plasma Pressure Plateau in the Night Sector of the Earth’s Magnetosphere and Its Stability. Geomagn. Aeron. 62 (Suppl 1), S28–S39 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S001679322260059X

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