State of the
magnetotail: Magnetotail currents and tail stress index
E.I.
Tanskanen and J.A. Slavin
NASA Goddard SFC, Greenbelt, MD, USA
Two Cluster tail passes are examined: 20-21 August, 2002 and 25-26
August, 2002. During both passes magnetosphere was strongly driven by
solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). IMF Bz was
southward over 20 hours during the first Cluster tail pass and about 8
hours during the second pass. State of the magnetospheric convection is
analyzed based on tail static pressure. All four Cluster s/c are used
to compute tail current components, which are further used to analyze
the stress level of the entire magnetotail.