The role of substorms in the formation of the ring current

Abstract

It has long been recognized that the formation of the terrestrial ring current is accompanied by strong substorm expansive phase activity in the auroral oval. While large amplitude substorm activity seems to be a prerequisite for ring current formation to take place, it has long been puzzling as to why some large amplitude substorm activity in the auroral oval is not associated with significant ring current development. In this paper I shall outline the basis for the renovated boundary layer dynamics model of magnetospheric substorms showing how the onset of the substorm expansive phase can be associated with a sudden decrease in shielding space charge in the region of the near‐Earth plasma sheet threaded by Region 2 field‐aligned currents. I shall suggest that an episode of sufficiently large southward IMF lasting over a sufficiently lengthy period of time can lead to a sequence of substorm expansive phases, each one being initiated closer to the Earth than the previous one. Each expansive phase is attributed to a sudden decrease in radially localized cross‐tail current (viz. a decrease in shielding space charge) and with each onset the inner edge of the plasma sheet moves inward. The inductive electric field associated with each crosstail current decrease is responsible for the acceleration of already energetic particles to energies of significance for ring current formation. Only when the inner edge of the crosstail current is sufficiently close to the Earth do the acceleration processes associated with substorm onset produce a long lived ring current.