F Rich
M S Gussenhoven; D A Hardy; C Y Huang
Three DMSP satellites, two in a noon-midnight and one in a dawn-dusk configuration, were in-flight during the October 18-20, 1995 magnetic storm period. A shock initiating the magnetic activity was followed by the passage of a magnetic cloud in which the solar wind magnetic field direction and density varied slowly and systematically, while the solar wind speed and magnetic field magnitude were near constant. The data from the DMSP satellites afford an opportunity to investigate changes in auroral precipitation and the cross polar cap potential associated with the slow changes within the magnetic cloud and to compare them with those predicted by magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the magnetosphere under similar conditions. Of particular interest are: a) the changing position and width of the dayside cusp; b) the intensity, extent and uniformity of particle precipitation in the nightside auroral oval; c) the response time of the magnetosphere to solar wind variations; d) the precise relationship between Bz and By in triggering polar cap activity and convection pattern changes; e) the relationship of the cross-cap potential to Bz and magnetospheric activity. Of particular interest is whether the magnetosphere responds in an instability-triggered or a steady manner to Bz slowly increasing from large negative values to large positive values.
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