The May 2–3, 1986 CDAW‐9C interval: A sawtooth event

Abstract

We re‐examine the CDAW‐9C interval and show that it was a sawtooth event ‐ and therefore that sawtooth events have been studied as substorms in the past. We also show that tail‐like stretching of the magnetic field can occur well inside of geosynchronous orbit and we present evidence that substorm‐associated tail reconnection can occur inside of −11 RE. We conclude that a major difference between sawtooth and non‐sawtooth substorms is that the sawtooth variety appear to represent a ‘mode’ of behavior in which substorm activity is brought anomalously close to the Earth for extended periods of time.