Formation and evolution of high-plasma-pressure region in the near-Earth plasma sheet: Precursor and postcursor of substorm expansion onset

Abstract

Cause of substorm expansion onset is one of the major problems in the magnetospheric study. On the basis of a global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation, Tanaka et al. (2010) suggested that formation and evolution of a high-pressure region (HPR) in the near-Earth plasma sheet could result in sudden intensification of the Region 1 field-aligned current and the westward auroral electrojet. In this sense, the formation and evolution of the HPR are a key in understanding the cause of the onset. On 5 April 2009, three probes of the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) were located at XGSM~-11 Re around the equator, which provide unique opportunity to investigate the spatial-temporal evolution of the HPR near the substorm expansion onset. Just before the onset, a positive excursion of the plasma pressure appeared at the outermost probe first, followed by the inner ones. Just after the onset, the opposite sequence took place. A positive excursion of the Y component of the current density was observed near the onset by the THEMIS probes and followed by a decrease trend. A similar variation was also found in the MHD simulation. All these features are consistent with the simulation result that a squeeze of the plasma from the plasma sheet results in the formation of the HPR before the onset and that the accumulated plasma spreads outward after the onset. The HPR is shown to be important for the dynamics of the magnetosphere during a substorm. Key Points High-pressure region moves earthward before onset and tailward after onset Flow convergence is responsible for evolution of the high-pressure region MHD simulation is consistent with THEMIS observation on substorm sequence