Magnetospheric Substorms
S.-l. Akasofu
The magnetospheric substorm is
perhaps the most widely known yet
most poorly understood facet of mag
n e t o s p h e r i c d i s t u r b a n c e s . I t is
generally agreed that the substorm
results from an explosive conversion
of magnetic energy generated by the
interaction between the solar wind
and the magnetosphere. The energy
thus released causes a variety of mag
netospheric and polar upper atmo
spheric disturbances. Although much
of the interpretation of substorm
observations is still a matter of great
controversy, we have made considera
ble progress in understanding sub
storm phenomena in terms of plasma
processes, most of which are funda
mental in cosmic electrodynamics.
Magnetosphere and
Magnetospheric S u b s t o r m s
The magnetosphere can be con
sidered as a 'machine' which converts
the kinetic energy of the solar wind
into electromagnetic energy through
magnetohydrodynamic (MHD)
dynamo action. A part of the energy
thus converted is fed into the mag-
netotail current system, which con
sists of two 'solenoids.' Another part
is spent by powering a large-scale
convective motion of magnetospheric
plasma, namely, a 'motor.' The electric
field associated with the convective
motion is communicated down to the
ionosphere by field-aligned currents.
As the ionosphere is forced to partici
pate in the convective motion, the fric-
tional interaction with the neutral
component of the atmosphere causes
Joule heating [Axford and Hines,
1961]. On the other hand, part of the
electrons which c a r r y the field-
aligned currents are accelerated along
the field lines and cause the aurora as
they interact with the upper atmo
sphere.
When the solar wind is steady and
the interplanetary magnetic field
68
(IMF) has a large northward (posi
tive) component, the above chain of
energy conversion processes proceeds
steadily. However, when the solar
wind speed and the IMF vary, the
efficiency of the dynamo action fluctu
ates. In particular, when the north-
south component B of the I M Fz
decreases and becomes negative
(southward directed), the efficiency
of the dynamo action is considerably
increased, resulting in a large increase
of the magnetic energy in the tail
region of the magnetosphere [Burch,
1974; Gonzalez and Mozer, 1974;
Caan et al, 1975; Holzer and Reid,
1975].
In this situation the magnetosphere
tends to enhance the rate of dissipa
tion of the magnetic energy by a
series of impulsive and transient pro
cesses, in addition to an enhanced con
vection of magnetospheric plasma.
The magnetospheric substorm can be
identified as this impulsive energy
dissipation process, which is much
more efficient than enhanced steady
dissipation processes. The situation is
IMF B z COMPONENT
1 hr
+5
r
o
-5h
Electrojet Intensity
Auroral Oval
OOOQOOQ o
Fig. 1 . Response of the magnetosphere to a rectangular change (wave) of the
north-south component 8 o f the interplanetary magnetic field (top), expressed in
z
terms of an intermittent surge of the auroral electrojet (middle) and of a series of
auroral s u b s t o r m s (bottom) [Akasofu, 1 9 7 7 a ] .
0096-3941/78/5902-0068$03.00
somewhat analogous to the generation
in the troposphere of a series of cyc
lones (cyclogenesis), which is a tran
sient process, but is much more effi
cient (because of the horizontal mix
ing) in achieving heat energy transfer
between the tropical and polar regions
than the Hadley cell-like convection.
Figure 1 illustrates schematically
the generation of magnetospheric sub
storms as a response of the mag
netosphere to a rectangular wave of
the B component of the I M F
z
[Akasofu, 1977a]. The top curve
shows what happens if the B compo
z
nent changes suddenly from a steady
large positive value (say, F 5 y) to
a large negative value ( 5 y) and
returns to the initial condition after
maintaining the large negative value
for 1 hour or so. The magnetosphere
responds to such a change of the B z
component by generating a series of
magnetospheric substorms dissipating
the magnetic energy acquired during
the above B component change (mid
z
dle curve). The bottom diagram will
be explained shortly.
 Feb 1973 1627 U T 2 5 Jan 1973 2132 U T
Fig. 2. Collection of D M S P satellite photographs of the dark hemisphere, chosen to show how the expansive phase of the
auroral substorm might appear if photographs could be taken minutes apart from above the north polar region [Akasofu
1977a].

Auroral S u b s t o r m s
The development and decay of a
single magnetospheric substorm can
probably be best observed in terms of
the development and decay of an
auroral substorm, which is one of the
manifestations (in fact, the only visi
ble manifestation) of the m a g
netospheric substorm [Akasofu, 1968].
If one could look down at the earth
from above the north pole, the aurora
would be seen along a nearly circular
belt which surrounds the dipole mag
netic pole. This belt is called the
auroral oval. The first indication of
the auroral substorm is signaled by a
sudden brightening of a quiet auroral
arc which lies in the midnight sector of
the auroral oval. After the initial
brightening the aurora moves rapidly
poleward, generating a large-scale
wave, called the westward traveling
surge, which propagates along the
oval toward the evening sky. Morning
auroras tend to 'break up' into long
isolated 'rays.' This violent activation
of auroras lasts about 30 min to 1
hour, resulting in a large bulge of light
(called the auroral bulge) centered in
the midnight sector. This period is
called the expansive phase. Figure 2

69
shows eight photographs taken from a
Defense Meteorological Satellite Pro
gram (DMSP) satellite; they are
chosen to illustrate how the expansive
phase might appear if photographs
could be taken several minutes apart.
The bottom diagram in Figure 1
shows schematically how the aurora
responds to the rectangular I M F
wave. First, the auroral oval expands
rapidly e q u a t o r w a r d . Since the
auroral oval delineates the boundary
of the area from which the open mag
netic flux originates, the expansion of
the oval indicates an increase of the
open magnetic flux and thus an
increased dynamo efficiency. Next a
series of substorms takes place, the
first one about 1 hour after the arrival
of the IMF wave and later ones even
well after the passage of the wave.
Note that after each substorm the size
of the auroral oval contracts. Sub-
storms continue to occur until the oval
reaches what we call the minimum
size oval, i.e., until all energy accumu
lated during the passage of the wave
14 16
is dissipated. One may use the area x l O * km*
covered by bright auroras as a
measure of the intensity of mag Fig. 3. Relationship between the intensity of auroral substorm (estimated from
netospheric substorms. Then there is a the s i z e of the area covered by bright auroras) and the area of the auroral oval
[Akasofu and Kamide, 1 9 7 6 ] .
simple relationship between the inten
sity of substorms and the size of the substorm begins before the end of the magnetotail during the last decade has
oval (Figure 3), suggesting that the confirmed that electromagnetic fields
recovery phase.
intensity of substorms is in general in the magnetosphere do change con
proportional to the amount of the siderably during auroral substorms.
Major T o p i c s
magnetic energy accumulated in the However, much of the interpreta
magnetotail. tion of both satellite and ground
The aurora is analogous to an image
Table 1 shows the rate of energy on the screen of a cathode ray tube, observations during substorms is still
dissipation for three major substorm since the auroral emissions are pro a matter of great controversy. This is
processes [Akasofu, 1977a]: auroral duced by the impact of an electron partly due to the fact that one has to
particle precipitation, Joule heat dis beam on the polar upper atmosphere d e t e r m i n e how v a r i o u s m a g
sipation (both in the ionosphere), and which corresponds to the screen of the netospheric quantities observed at
injection of ring current particles into tube. Thus violent auroral motions different locations vary as a function
the Van Allen belt, i.e., inflation of the during a magnetospheric substorm of time after substorm onset. Ideally,
inner m a g n e t o s p h e r e . The t o t a l imply c o m p l i c a t e d c h a n g e s of such a study could be achieved if there
energy dissipation during a typical electromagnetic fields in the mag were a large number of satellites,
substorm (of lifetime of 2 hours) is netosphere. Indeed, an extensive observing simultaneously all the
also estimated. Note that the largest satellite observation of magnetic desired quantities at a large number
amount of substorm energy is con fields and plasma parameters in the of locations. Since this is impossible,
sumed in inflating the inner mag
netosphere and that a significant part
of it will finally be dissipated in the
T A B L E 1 . E n e r g i e s Associated With T h r e e Major Substorm P r o c e s s e s
upper atmosphere as ring current par
ticles eventually precipitate. Auroral Particle Joule Heat Ring Current
Precipitation Dissipation Injection Total
The recovery phase of the auroral
substorm begins when the auroral Rate, e r g s / s 10 *1 7
2.8 x 1 01 8
3 x 1018
bulge begins to contract; this phase Total, ergs 1.4 x 1 0 2 1 1.4 x 1 0
2 1
2 X 1Q22 2.3 x 1 0 2 2
lasts typically 1-3 hours. Eventually,
auroral activity ceases, leaving quiet *One hemisphere.
auroras all along the oval, or a new

70
one has to compile satellite data
observed at different locations and at
different times for different sub
s t o r m s , a n a l y z e d by d i f f e r e n t
workers. In spite of these immense
difficulties we have made remarkable
progress in understanding substorm
phenomena in the last decade and now
have a few 'modern' morphological
and theoretical models which are
under serious consideration and
debate among substorm workers.
Magnetic Energy Conversion
F o r example, during the past
several years the prevailing idea has
been that an X-type magnetic neutral
line would be formed in the near-earth
plasma sheet, where the magnetic
energy in the magnetotail is converted
into the e n e r g y for the m a g
netospheric substorm [Axford, 1969;
McPherron et al, 1973; Hones, 1973;
Russell and McPherron, 1973;
Nishida and Hones, 1974; Schindler,
1975; Hones et al, 1976]. In the upper
half of Figure 4 the X line formation is
schematically illustrated. On the other
hand, some of the interpretations of
the supporting evidence for the X line
formation have recently been serious
ly questioned by Lui et al [1977].
In fact, it has been a great surprise
and puzzle, against an early expecta
tion soon after the discovery of the
plasma sheet, to find that the plasma
sheet at distances greater than 10 R
(earth radii) simply becomes very
thin, without any definite indication of
energization of plasma, when auroras
are most active in the polar region.
Actually, it is only within a distance of
less than 10 R that a hot plasma has
E recovery phase, so that the mag
been observed at about the onset time
and during the expansive phase of
auroral substorms. As an alternative
to the X line formation hypothesis,
some workers have suggested that the
cross-tail current at its earthward
edge (at a geocentric distance of about
10 R^ is suddenly interrupted by a
plasma instability process at substorm
onset [Atkinson, 1967; Akasofu, 1972,
19776; Bostrom, 1972; Kan and
Akasofu, 1978]. In the lower half of
Figure 4 the current interruption
model is schematically illustrated.
Since the magnetospheric substorm is
a transient phenomenon, there is no
doubt that an inductive electric field
TWO
Before Onset
Noon-Midnight
Cross Section
X LINE
MODEL
Equatorial
Cross Section
Noon-Midnight
Cross Section
CURRENT
DISRUPTION
MODEL
Equatorial i
Cross Section 1
~
Fig. 4. Schematic diagram of two substorm models, the X line model and the cur
rent disruption model, in both noon-midnight and equatorial c r o s s sections.
plays an important role in substorm
processes.
So far we have mainly been con
cerned with the triggering and the
e x p a n s i v e p h a s e of t h e m a g
netospheric substorm. During an early
epoch of the recovery phase a high
speed earthward flow of a very hot
E plasma appears in the magnetotail. As
a result the plasma sheet becomes
even thicker and hotter than before
substorm onset. The plasma sheet is
thus considerably inflated again (re
flated) during an early epoch of the
netospheric substorm is not simply a
result of the tendency for the mag
netosphere to relax from a stressed
condition to a dipolar configuration.
Eventually, the hot plasma sheet
becomes gradually cooler and thinner
as the recovery phase proceeds. There
has been little theoretical effort in
understanding this complex chain of
phenomena during the r e c o v e r y
phase. It is also an important problem
to find out why the expansive phase is
checked after 1 hour or less without
dissipating all available magnetic
energy at once during a single sub
stormin other words, to discover
why a series of substorms takes place.
S U B S T O R M MODELS
Expansive Phase
Current
Reduction
Rarefaction
Wave Frpnt
(disruption)
i
^ 'Si
\ \ \ \
/> w
\ \ \ '
/
Current ^ i
Diversion Plasma Flow
Auroral Electrojet
In any case, there is no doubt that
magnetotail phenomena during mag
netospheric substorms and their
theoretical implications will be among
the most hotly debated topics for the
coming years. In particular, it is of
fundamental importance in cosmic
electrodynamics to find out plasma
processes involved in the magnetic
energy conversion. Among the mag-
netospheres of the planets and stars,
as well as in the solar atmosphere, the
terrestrial magnetosphere is the only
region where satellite-borne instru
ments can make frequent detailed
measurements. In particular, an
observation of plasma waves in the
magnetotail is crucial in understand
ing plasma instabilities associated
with substorms [Scarf et al, 1974;
Wickwar, 1975]/
Plasma Injection and the
Ring Current Formation
Another important topic in mag
netospheric substorm studies is the
so-called injection of hot plasma from
the plasma sheet into the Van Allen
belt [DeForest and McRwain, 1971].
The 'injected' plasma drifts around
the earth, forming the ring current
71
belt in which a westward directed
electric current flows. The main
efforts during the last several years
have been to backtrack the trajecto
ries of plasma particles in an attempt
to find out where they originated and
how their motions were triggered.
However, it is rather a difficult task
to treat the problem in a time-depen
dent situation, and thus it is a highly
c o n t r o v e r s i a l subject [Mcllwain,
1974; Williams et al., 1974; Smith
and Hoffman, 1974; Walker and
Kivelson, 1975]. Interactions between
the drifting plasma particles and
plasma waves and the resulting pre
cipitation and V L F emissions have
been explored extensively by a com
bined effort of theorists and experi
menters.
A geomagnetic storm results when
intense substorms occur frequently
[Akasofu and Chapman, 1972], and
thus when the, ring current belt
becomes unusually intense, causing an
appreciable decrease (the so-called
main phase decrease) of the magnetic
field in low and middle latitudes on the
earth's surface [Dessler and Parker,
1959].
Field-Aligned Currents and
the Auroral Electrojet
The polar upper atmosphere is con
siderably disturbed during a sub
storm. It has long been known that a
c o n c e n t r a t e d ionospheric c u r r e n t
called the auroral electrojet flows
along the auroral oval, causing intense
polar magnetic disturbances called the
polar magnetic substorm [Kisabeth
and Rostoker, 1971; Kamide and
Akasofu, 1975]. The electrojet is con
nected to field-aligned electric cur
rents in a very complicated way
[Bostrom, 1 9 6 4 ; Bostrom and
Rostoker, 1 9 7 6 ; Yasuhara and
Akasofu, 1977]. All discrete auroras
occur where upward field-aligned cur
rents flow, and the electrojet flows
along the auroral oval. As is expected,
such upward field-aligned currents
are considerably enhanced during sub
storms. Undoubtedly, an intense
auroral kilometric radio noise is
related to the enhanced field-aligned
currents [Gurnett, 1974; Voots et al.,
1977]. However, at present we are
still far from a full understanding of
the cause of the enhancement and its
72
Open field line High-speed solar
Coronal hole
region wind stream
Interaction of
Fluctuations in Fluctuations of
high-speed stream
the interaction the IMF NS
with the ambient
region component
solar wind
IMF NS
Magnetospheric
magnetosphere
substorms
interaction
Fig. 5. Block diagram showing the relationship between the open field line region
in the photosphere of the sun and magnetospheric substorms [Akasofu, 1977a].
relation to the electrojet. Here we are which lead to magnetospheric sub
dealing with the coupling of two storms, one important aspect of the
systems, the magnetosphere and the solar-terrestrial relationship (see
ionosphere, constituting a complicated Figure 5).
feedback system [Swift, 1967; Cor- In summary, we have begun to
oniti and Kennel, 1972]. In fact, it has unveil quite systematically the pro
been suggested that the ionosphere cesses associated with the interaction
plays a critical role in triggering pro of a magnetized plasma with a mag
cesses of magnetospheric substorms, netized celestial body. This study was
although it is controversial whether initiated by K. Birkeland and C.
the ionosphere has a suppressing Stormer in terms of motions of a
effect or plays a triggering role in the charged particle in a dipole field, by S.
initial growth of the substorm. The Chapman in terms of a flow of
incoherent scatter radar at Chatanika diamagnetic plasma around a dipole,
has proven to be most useful in pro and by H. Alfven in terms of a flow of
viding ionospheric electric field data magnetized plasma around a dipole. In
which are vital in studying this coup spite of the great complexity involved
ling process, the nature of the auroral in dealing with observations we have
electrojet, and other substorm-related made considerable progress in under
phenomena in the polar ionosphere standing magnetospheric phenomena
[Banks and Doupnik, 1975]. during the last decade. Among them,
the concept of magnetospheric sub
Nature of the IMF Fluctuations storms has provided a framework for
studies of magnetospheric distur
Another important problem associ bances and of the associated polar
ated with magnetospheric substorms upper atmospheric disturbances and
is the nature of 'fluctuations' of the has also unified them into a single dis
IMF. Various flow instabilities and cipline within the field of mag
Alfven waves in a high-speed solar netospheric physics.
wind stream emanating from a coronal The next decade will be a most
hole have been suggested [Burlaga, exciting period for magnetospheric
1975]. F o r magnetospheric physicists substorm studies, since the Interna
the nature of the fluctuations is the tional Magnetosphere Study will
most important problem in linking undoubtedly provide crucial satellite
solar activity and geomagnetic distur and ground-based data that will add to
bances; that is, although the sun has our understanding of the basic plasma
long been known to be the source of processes involved in substorm pro
g e o m a g n e t i c (and thus m a g cesses. A Chapman Conference
netospheric) disturbances, one cannot entitled 'Magnetospheric Substorms
claim to understand this relationship and Related Plasma Processes,' to be
without finding plasma processes held at the Los Alamos Scientific
which cause the 'fluctuations.' The Laboratory, New Mexico, October
cause of the 'fluctuations' is the miss 9-13, 1978 (see January 1977 E 0 S , p.
ing link in a long chain of processes 29), is timely in this respect in setting
the directions along which experimen
ters, analysts, and plasma physicists
can work together toward our com
mon goal of understanding the physics
involved in s u b s t o r m p r o c e s s e s .
F u r t h e r m o r e , this Chapman Con
ference is a particularly appropriate
one, because Chapman was the man
who introduced the term substorm.
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank C. T.
Russell and other members of the pro
gram committee of the Chapman Con
ference on Magnetospheric Substorms
and Related Plasma Processes for
their comments on an early version of
this paper. This work was supported
in part by a grant from the National
Science Foundation Atmospheric
Sciences Section (ATM 74-23832) and
in part by a grant from the National
Aeronautics and Space Administra
tion (NSG 7281).
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S.-I. Akasofu, professor of geophysics at the Geo
physical Institute, University of Alaska, received
his Ph.D. in geophysics from the University of
Alaska in 1961. He has published two books on mag
netospheric substorms and coauthored Solar-Ter
restrial Physics with Sydney Chapman. He was
awarded the Chapman Medal from the Royal
Astronomical Society, England, and the Japan
Academy Award for his study on magnetospheric
physics. He is the convenor of the AGU Chapman
Conference on Magnetospheric Substorms and
Related Plasma Processes and a contributor to A R S
volume 2 9 , Upper Atmosphere Research in
Antarctica.
73