Magnetospheric Convection near a Drainage Plume

摘要

We report on equatorial convection associated with a plasmaspheric drainage plume using simultaneous observations from five satellites. During the early recovery phase of the July 2000 Bastille Day magnetic storm, the Extreme Ultraviolet sensor on the Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration satellite detected the plume near 16:00–17:00 magnetic local time extending outward to L ≈ 2.8. The plasmaspheric boundary was near L = 2 at other local times. We mapped simultaneously measured ionospheric plasma drifts from ROCSAT-1 and three Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft along magnetic field lines to infer equatorial convection velocities in the inner magnetosphere. The zonal component of convection derived from ROCSAT-1 ion-drift measurements had a sharp, positive azimuthal gradient near the plume’s boundaries, reversing direction from westward to eastward. The meridional profile of horizontal velocities deduced from DMSP measurements shows a large, westward-flowing subauroral polarization stream (SAPS) located outside the plasmapause. The peak velocity of the SAPS centered at a radial distance of L ≈ 2.8 with a full width of ～1 R E. In the inertial frame of reference, equatorial plasmas flowed toward the plume from both its day and evening sides, suggesting a negative gradient in the equatorial azimuthal velocity that was largest near the plume’s outermost boundary. These observations provide new evidence about diversion of SAPS plasma flows and distinctive azimuthal velocity patterns in the vicinity of plasmaspheric plumes.