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Abstract. Comprehensive analysis of a moderate 600 nT substorm was performed using simultaneous optical observations inside the auroral oval and in the polar cap, combined with data from satellites, radars, and ground magnetometers. The onset took place near the poleward boundary of the auroral oval that is not typical for classical substorms. The substorm onset was preceded by two negative excursions of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) Bz component, with a 1 min interval between them, two enhancements of the antisunward convection in the polar cap with the same time interval, and 15 min oscillations in the geomagnetic H component in the auroral zone. The distribution of the pulsation intensity along meridian has two local maxima, namely at the equatorial and poleward boundaries of the auroral oval, where pulsations occurred in the out-of-phase mode resembling the field line resonance. At the initial stage, the auroral breakup developed as the auroral torch stretched and expanded poleward along the meridian. Later it took the form of the large-scale coiling structure that also distinguishes the considered substorm from the classical one. Magnetic, radar, and the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment (AMPERE) satellite data show that, before the collapse, the coiling structure was located between two field-aligned currents, namely downward at the poleward boundary of structure and upward at the equatorial boundary. The set of GEOTAIL satellites and ground data fit to the near-tail current disruption scenario of the substorm onset. We suggest that the 15 min oscillations might play a role in the substorm initiation.

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Abstract. Comprehensive analysis of a moderate 600-nT substorm was performed with using simultaneous optical observations inside the auroral oval and in the polar cap, combined with data from satellites, radars, and ground magnetometers. The onset took place near the poleward boundary of the auroral oval that is not typical for classical substorms. The substorm onset was preceded by two negative excursions of the IMF Bz component with 15-min interval between them, two enhancements of the antisunward convection in the polar cap with the same repetition period, and 15-minute oscillations in geomagnetic H-component in the auroral zone. The distribution of the pulsation intensity along meridian has two local maxima – at equatorial and poleward boundaries of the auroral oval where pulsations occurred in the out-of-phase mode resembling the field-line resonance. At initial stage, the auroral breakup developed as auroral torch stretching and expanding poleward along the meridian. Some later it took a form of the large-scale coiling structure that also distinguishes the considered substorm from classical one. Magnetic, radar and AMPERE satellite data show that before the collapse the coiling structure was located between two field-aligned currents: downward at poleward boundary of structure and upward at equatorial boundary. The set of GEOTAIL satellite and ground data fits to the near-tail current disruption scenario of the substorm onset. We suggest that the 15-min oscillations might play a role in the substorm initiation.

No abstract