Energetic ions observed in the cusp have been explained as a result ofprocesses within the magnetosphere, but also proposed as a driver ofsome of those same processes. This study assesses potentialconnections between energetic ions observed in the cusp andgeomagnetic storm and substorm activity. These connections may suggestsources of cusp energetic particles (CEPs), or imply effects of theseparticles on magnetospheric dynamics. We identify CEPs from six yearsof cusp crossings by the Polar satellite, relating them to storm andsubstorm onsets. CEPs showed no significant dependence on storms butdid show a weak, statistically significant, increase after substormonsets. CEPs had no significant association with subsequent storm orsubstorm onsets. We conclude that substorm acceleration may contributeto CEPs but CEPs are unlikely to contribute to global magnetosphericdynamics.
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