Observations and simulations of northward IMF magnetotail structure

We investigate the dynamic coupling between the solar wind and Earth’s magnetosphere during northward IMF conditions. The high latitude lobe regions of the magnetosphere during such conditions are generally characterised as containing cool, very low energy plasma populations. However, when the solar wind is directed northward, hot plasma populations can sometimes be observed within the lobes, and transpolar arcs (auroral features which extend from the nightside into the polar cap) can also be present. We discuss three cases in which the Cluster spacecraft observed uncharacteristically energetic plasma populations in the lobe, with the footprint of the spacecraft intersecting a transpolar arc (Fryer et al., 2021). These observations reveal that both the hot plasma populations, and therefore transpolar arcs, are likely to form on closed field lines and are consistent with a mechanism in which magnetotail reconnection builds up closed field lines within the magnetotail, which then become “stuck” in the lobe (Milan et al., 2005).

Under certain northward IMF conditions, we find that the Grand Unified Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling Simulation (GUMICS) model reproduces a similar large, closed field line region in the magnetotail. We find similarities between the structures seen within the simulation runs, the results of the in-situ observational study, and the Milan et al. (2005) magnetotail reconnection model, but also note some key differences in the configuration of the magnetotail reproduced in the simulations, compared with the remote and in situ observations. Finally, we note that the SMILE spacecraft will be ideally positioned to observe the coupling between the solar wind and Earth’s magnetosphere during northward IMF conditions, through both high latitude in situ observations and imaging of the auroral response.