The expansive phase of magnetospheric substorms 2. The response at synchronous altitude of particles of different energy ranges

Abstract

Several previous studies have shown that there are variations in the energetic particle populations at synchronous orbit during periods of substorm activity; however, in these investigations the precise location of the satellite with respect to the longitudinal regime experiencing expansion phase activity has been unknown. In this paper, data from the Lockheed particle detectors on ATS 5 in synchronous orbit and from the meridian line of magnetometers operated by the University of Alberta are correlated for periods of substorm activity where the position of the satellite with respect to the expansion phase regime is known. It is found that changes in the nature of the energetic particle signatures at ATS 5 are correlated with changes in the auroral electrojet structure during the development of the substorm expansive phase. In particular, it is found that marked increases in the fluxes of the energetic particles showing no dispersion among the energy channels occur only when the satellite is on field lines which map to the poleward border of the substorm-intensified westward electrojet. It is further found that when the satellite is on field lines which penetrate the heart of the substorm westward electrojet, one only observes steady high fluxes of energetic particles, and there are no sharp well-defined changes in fluxes associated with continuing impulsive intensifications of the electrojet at its poleward border. It is concluded that the substorm disturbance typically begins at a given latitude and propagates poleward in impulsive steps and that energetic electron enhancements are observed at ATS 5 when the poleward border of the electrojet intensifies in the latitude range of the ATS field line foot. This fact permits the mapping of field lines in the geographic equatorial plane to the earth's surface at specific instants during the substorm expansion phase.