A simulation study of particle energization observed by THEMIS spacecraft during a substorm

Abstract

Energetic ions with hundreds of keV energy are frequently observed in the near‐Earth tail during magnetospheric substorms. We examined the sources and acceleration of ions during a magnetospheric substorm on 1 March 2008 by using Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) and Cluster observations and numerical simulations. Four of the THEMIS spacecraft were aligned at yGSM = 6 RE during a very large substorm (AE = 1200) while the Cluster spacecraft were located about 5 RE above the auroral ionosphere. For 2 h before the substorm, Cluster observed ionospheric oxygen flowing out into the magnetosphere. After substorm onset the THEMIS P3 and P4 spacecraft located in the near‐Earth tail (xGSM = −9 RE and −8 RE, respectively) observed large fluxes of energetic ions up to 500 keV. We used calculations of millions of ions of solar wind and ionospheric origin in the time‐dependent electric and magnetic fields from a global magnetohydrodynamic simulation of this event to study the source of these ions and their acceleration. The simulation did a good job of reproducing the particle observations. Both solar wind protons and ionospheric oxygen were accelerated by nonadiabatic motion across large (>∼5 mV/m) total electric fields (both potential and induced). The acceleration occurred in the “wall” region of the near‐Earth tail where nonadiabatic motion dominates over convection and the particles move rapidly across the tail. The acceleration occurred mostly in regions with large electric fields and nonadiabatic motion. There was relatively little acceleration in regions with large electric fields and adiabatic motion or small electric fields and nonadiabatic motion. Prior to substorm onset, ionospheric ions were a significant contributor to the cross‐tail current, but after onset, solar wind ions become more dominant.