The distribution characteristics of the flows in the near-Earth region: TC-1 observational results

Abstract

TC-1 observational results clearly indicate that the velocity of the flows in the near-Earth region is dependent on the satellite location. The flow speed decreases while satellite moves close to the Earth. The plasma flow in the region close to the Earth tends to drift into the midnight region from the dawn and dusk region while the flow in the region away from the Earth shows an opposite drift. The observational results also show that the tailward flows are mainly located in the plasma sheet boundary while the earthward flow becomes dominant in the plasma sheet. It is found that both the strong tailward and earthward flows are distributed in the region around X=-11Re, which coincides with the trigger region of the substorm onset. Hence, it may suggest that the flows are related with the trigger of the substorm onset. In addition, the BBFs coming from the mid-tail maily distributed in the region where X<-9RE and |Z|<3RE that differs from the convection.