Features of excitation and azimuthal and meridional propagation of long-period Pi3 oscillations of the geomagnetic field on December 8, 2017

Abstract

We study the Pi3 pulsations (with a period T=15–30 min) that were recorded on December 8, 2017 at ground stations in the midnight sector of the magnetosphere at the latitude range of DP2 current system convective electrojets. We have found that Pi3 are especially pronounced in the pre-midnight sector with amplitude of up to 300 nT and duration of up to 2.5 hrs. The pulsation amplitude rapidly decreased with decreasing latitude from F′=72° to F′=63°. The event was recorded during the steady magnetospheric convection. In the southward Bz component of the interplanetary magnetic field, irregular oscillations were detected in the Pi3 frequency range. They correspond to slow magnetosonic waves occurring without noticeable variations in the dynamic pressure Pd. Ground-based geomagnetic observations have shown azimuthal propagation of pulsations with a 0.6–10.6 km/s velocity east and west of the midnight meridian. An analysis of the dynamics of pulsations along the meridian has revealed their propagation to the equator at a velocity 0.75–7.87 km/s. In the projection onto the magnetosphere, the velocities are close in magnitude to the observed propagation velocities of substorm injected electrons. In the dawn-side magnetosphere during ground-observed Pi3 pulsations, compression mode oscillations were recorded.
 We conclude that propagation of geomagnetic field oscillations in this event depends on the dynamics of particle injections under the action of a large-scale electric field of magnetospheric convection, which causes the plasma to move to Earth due to reconnection in the magnetotail. Small-scale oscillations in the magnetosphere were secondary, excited by the solar wind oscillations penetrating into the magnetosphere.