Structure of the outer cusp and sources of the cusp precipitation during intervals of a horizontal IMF

Abstract

The cusp represents a place where the magnetosheath plasma can directly penetrate into the magnetosphere. Since the main transport processes are connected with merging of the interplanetary and magnetospheric field lines, the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) orientation plays a decisive role in the formation of the high‐altitude cusp. The importance of the sign of the IMF BZ component for this process was suggested about 40 years ago and later it was documented by many experimental investigations. However, situations when IMF BZ is the major IMF component are rather rare. The structure of the cusp during periods of a small IMF BZ has not been as widely investigated, probably due to the fully three‐dimensional nature of the interaction. The present case study reveals the importance of horizontal IMF components on the global magnetospheric configuration as well as on small‐scale processes at the cusp‐magnetosheath interface. We have used simultaneous measurements of several spacecraft (ISTP program) operating in different regions of interplanetary space and two closely spaced satellites (INTERBALL‐1/MAGION‐4) crossing the cusp‐magnetosheath boundary to show the connection between the short‐scale and large‐scale phenomena. In the Northern Hemisphere, observations suggest a presence of two spots of cusp‐like precipitation supplied by reconnection occurring simultaneously in both hemispheres. A source of this bifurcation is the positive IMF BY component further enhanced by the field draping in the magnetosheath. This magnetic field component shifts the entry point far away from the local noon but in opposite sense in either hemisphere.