Global observations of magnetospheric high‐m poloidal waves during the 22 June 2015 magnetic storm

We report global observations of high‐m poloidal waves during the recovery phase of the 22 June 2015 magnetic storm from a constellation of widely spaced satellites of five missions including Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS), Van Allen Probes, Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorm (THEMIS), Cluster, and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES). The combined observations demonstrate the global spatial extent of storm time poloidal waves. MMS observations confirm high azimuthal wave numbers (m ~ 100). Mode identification indicates the waves are associated with the second harmonic of field line resonances. The wave frequencies exhibit a decreasing trend as L increases, distinguishing them from the single‐frequency global poloidal modes normally observed during quiet times. Detailed examination of the instantaneous frequency reveals discrete spatial structures with step‐like frequency changes along L. Each discrete L shell has a steady wave frequency and spans about 1 RE, suggesting that there exist a discrete number of drift‐bounce resonance regions across L shells during storm times.Key PointsObserved long‐lasting high‐m poloidal waves associated with second harmonics of field line resonances during a major magnetic stormDemonstrated global spatial extent of storm time poloidal FLR region using observations from a constellation of widely spaced satellitesRevealed discrete spatial structures of resonant L shells with step‐like frequency changesPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137558/1/grl55775_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137558/2/grl55775.pd

Global structures of Alfven-ballooning modes in magnetospheric plasmas

The authors show that a steep plasma pressure gradient can lead to radially localized Alfven modes, which are damped through coupling to filed line resonances. These have been called drift Alfven balloning modes (DABM) and are the prime candidates to explain Pc4-Pc5 geomagnetic pulsations observed during storms. A strong dependence of the damping rate on the azimuthal wave number m is established, as well as on the equilibrium profile. A minimum azimuthal mode number can be found for the DABM to be radially trapped. The authors find that higher m DABMs are better localized, which is consistent with high-m observations