MAGNETOTAIL ENERGY FLOW AND NON-LINEAR DYNAMICS SCIENCE QUESTIONS

Structure of the global magnetotail system

• How do the LLBL and HLBL vary in thickness with IMF?
• What is the amount of SW penetration into the LLBL?
• What is the evidence for reconnection along the flanks?
• Where is the magnetopause locally open or closed?
• How do the large-scale vortices in the tail vary with IMF?
• Does the PS bifurcate with the turning of the IMF?
• How much SW electron heat flux enters the tail lobes and how is this regulated by IMF?

Quiescent Configuration

• Does the magnetosphere have a ground state?
• What is the structure of the quiet-time magnetosphere?
• What are the sources of plasma in the magnetotail?
• What is the ionospheric response to magnetic activity?
• How do MHD waves transfer energy under quiet conditions?

Origin of the Plasma in the Plasmasheet

• What are the relative sources of SW and ionosphere in the PS?
• What are the transport mechanisms from sources to the PS?

Dynamic Magnetotail Configuration

• What is the dependence on the orientation of magnetotail to SW IMF and plasma properties?
• What changes occur in the magnetotail/ionosphere mapping?

Perturbations and Substorms

• How quick does the magnetosphere respond to external changes?
• What "changes in state" of the magnetosphere from SW pressure trigger instabilities leading to substorms?
• Is there a global magnetospheric response to SW input?

Storms

• Do all regions of the magnetotail change during storm times?
• Are their different triggers for storms and what is the tail response?
• How does EM energy get transported and stored in the tail?
• How do substorm features change during storm periods?

Internal magnetospheric instabilities

• What are the key processes in substorms?
• Where is the substorm trigger region?
• What disrupts and reconfigures magnetospheric currents during substorms?

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(G.C.G.)