Abstract. On board the four Cluster spacecraft, the Cluster Ion Spectrometry (CIS) experiment measures the full, threedimensional ion distribution of the major magnetospheric ions (H + , He + , He ++ , and O + ) from the thermal energies to about 40 keV/e. The experiment consists of two different instruments: a COmposition and DIstribution Function analyser (CIS1/CODIF), giving the mass per charge composition with medium (22.5 • ) angular resolution, and a Hot Ion AnalCorrespondence to: H. Rème (Henri.Reme@cesr.fr) yser (CIS2/HIA), which does not offer mass resolution but has a better angular resolution (5.6 • ) that is adequate for ion beam and solar wind measurements. Each analyser has two different sensitivities in order to increase the dynamic range.

We have studied in detail multi‐spacecraft observations of the exterior cusp on 04 February 2001, during a steady northward Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) interval. At a radial distance of 11 Re, Cluster encountered a well‐bounded region where the magnetic field exhibited very low diamagnetic values and the ions displayed high levels of isotropisation. We refer to this region as the Stagnant Exterior Cusp (SEC). Its equatorward edge is magnetopause like, whereas on the poleward side of the SEC, high‐speed plasma jets were observed consistent with a reconnection site poleward of the cusp. The SEC/magnetosheath boundary is characterized by abrupt changes in the magnetic field and plasma parameters that satisfy the Walén test, and by an S‐shaped magnetic hodogram. The latter may suggest the presence of an intermediate/slow transition.

Abstract:The structure of Earth's magnetosphere is poorly understood when the interplanetary magnetic field is northward. Under this condition, uncharacteristically energetic plasma is observed in the magnetotail lobes, which is not expected in the textbook model of the magnetosphere. Using satellite observations, we show that these lobe plasma signatures occur on high latitude magnetic field lines that have been closed by the fundamental plasma process of magnetic reconnection. Previous authors have suggested that closed flux can become 'trapped' in the lobe. Their hypothesis holds that this plasma trapping process explains another poorly understood phenomenon: the presence of auroras at extremely high latitudes, called transpolar arcs. Observations of the aurora at the same time as the lobe plasma signatures reveal the presence of a transpolar arc. The excellent correspondence between the transpolar arc and the 'trapped' closed flux at high altitudes provides very strong evidence of the trapping mechanism as the cause of transpolar arcs.One Sentence Summary: Plasma observed in the magnetotail lobes is due to 'trapped' closed magnetic flux, and reveals the process behind the formation of transpolar arcs. Main Text:The night side of the terrestrial magnetosphere forms a structured magnetotail, consisting of a plasma sheet at low latitudes that is sandwiched between two regions called the magnetotail lobes (Fig 1.). The lobes consist of the regions in which the terrestrial magnetic field lines are directly connected to the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), which is referred to as being topologically 'open' (indicated by the dashed gray lines in Fig. 1). Magnetic field lines threading the plasma sheet (solid gray lines in Fig. 1) are not connected to the IMF, and are therefore 'closed' (1, 2). Topology changes are caused by the process of magnetic ‡ This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of the AAAS for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Science, volume 346 on 19 th December 2014, DOI:10.1126/science.1257377. reconnection, which drives magnetospheric dynamics when the IMF is southward (1). Different plasma populations are observed in these regions -plasma in the lobes is very cool, whereas the plasma sheet is more energetic. The key way to distinguish between open and closed magnetic field lines is that electron distributions on closed field lines may exhibit a 'double loss cone', in which the distribution peaks perpendicular to the magnetic field (e.g. 3). This requires the presence of magnetic mirrors on both sides of the observation site, therefore double loss cones are unambiguous indicators that the magnetic field lines observed by a spacecraft are closed.A major problem in magnetospheric physics is the adaptation of this picture to times when the IMF is northward. A recent study (4) has reported relatively hot plasma in the lobes, which is unexpected in standard magnetosphere model. The authors attributed the presence of the pla...

Abstract.A recently developed technique for reconstructing approximately two-dimensional (∂/∂z≈0), timestationary magnetic field structures in space is applied to two magnetopause traversals on the dawnside flank by the four Cluster spacecraft, when the spacecraft separation was about 2000 km. The method consists of solving the GradShafranov equation for magnetohydrostatic structures, using plasma and magnetic field data measured along a single spacecraft trajectory as spatial initial values. We assess the usefulness of this single-spacecraft-based technique by comparing the magnetic field maps produced from one spacecraft with the field vectors that other spacecraft actually observed. For an optimally selected invariant (z)-axis, the correlation between the field components predicted from the reconstructed map and the corresponding measured components reaches more than 0.97. This result indicates that the reconstruction technique predicts conditions at the other spacecraft locations quite well.The optimal invariant axis is relatively close to the intermediate variance direction, computed from minimum variance analysis of the measured magnetic field, and is generally well determined with respect to rotations about the maximum variance direction but less well with respect to rotations about the minimum variance direction. In one of the events, field maps recovered individually for two of the spacecraft, which crossed the magnetopause with an interval of a few tens of seconds, show substantial differences in configuration. By comparing these field maps, time evolution of the magnetopause structures, such as the formation of magnetic islands, motion of the structures, and thickening of the magnetopause current layer, is discussed.

Abstract.The results of a statistical study of oxygen ion outflow using Cluster data obtained at high altitude above the polar cap is reported. Moment data for both hydrogen ions (H + ) and oxygen ions (O + ) from 3 years (2001)(2002)(2003) of spring orbits (January to May) have been used. The altitudes covered were mainly in the range 5-12 R E geocentric distance. It was found that O + is significantly transversely energized at high altitudes, indicated both by high perpendicular temperatures for low magnetic field values as well as by a tendency towards higher perpendicular than parallel temperature distributions for the highest observed temperatures. The O + parallel bulk velocity increases with altitude in particular for the lowest observed altitude intervals. O + parallel bulk velocities in excess of 60 km s −1 were found mainly at higher altitudes corresponding to magnetic field strengths of less than 100 nT. For the highest observed parallel bulk velocities of O + the thermal velocity exceeds the bulk velocity, indicating that the beam-like character of the distribution is lost. The parallel bulk velocity of the H + and O + was found to typically be close to the same throughout the observation interval when the H + bulk velocity was calculated for all pitch-angles. When the H + bulk velocity was calculated for upward moving particles only the H + parallel bulk velocity was typically higher than that of O + . The parallel bulk velocity is close to the same for a wide range of Correspondence to: H. Nilsson (hans.nilsson@irf.se) relative abundance of the two ion species, including when the O + ions dominates. The thermal velocity of O + was always well below that of H + . Thus perpendicular energization that is more effective for O + takes place, but this is not enough to explain the close to similar parallel velocities. Further parallel acceleration must occur. The results presented constrain the models of perpendicular heating and parallel acceleration. In particular centrifugal acceleration of the outflowing ions, which may provide the same parallel velocity increase to the two ion species and a two-stream interaction are discussed in the context of the measurements.

Abstract. The inner magnetosphere's current mapping is one of the key elements for current loop closure inside the entire magnetosphere. A method for directly computing the current is the multi-spacecraft curlometer technique, which is based on the application of Maxwell-Ampère's law. This requires the use of four-point magnetic field high resolution measurements. The FGM experiment on board the four Cluster spacecraft allows, for the first time, an instantaneous calculation of the magnetic field gradients and thus a measurement of the local current density. This technique requires, however, a careful study concerning all the factors that can affect the accuracy of the J estimate, such as the tetrahedral geometry of the four spacecraft, or the size and orientation of the current structure sampled. The first part of this paper is thus providing a detailed analysis of the method accuracy, and points out the limitations of this technique in the region of interest. The second part is an analysis of the ring current region, which reveals, for the first time, the large latitudinal extent of the ring current, for all magnetic activity levels, as well as the latitudinal evolution of the perpendicular (and parallel) components of the current along the diffuse auroral zone. Our analysis also points out the sharp transition between two distinct plasma regions, with the existence of high diamagnetic currents at the interface, as well as the filamentation of the current inside the inner plasma sheet. A statistical study over multiple perigee passes of Cluster (at about 4 R E from the Earth) reveals the azimuthal extent of the partial ring current. It also reveals that, at these distances and all along the evening sector, there isn't necessarily a strong dependence of the local current density value on the magnetic activity level. This is a direct consequence of the ring current morphology evolution, as well as the relative positioning ofCorrespondence to: C. Vallat (claire.vallat@cesr.fr) the spacecraft with respect to the bulk of the ring current. It also proves the existence of a substantial ring current at these distances, all over the evening and the post-midnight sector.

Abstract. The global characteristics of the high-altitude cusp and its surrounding regions are investigated using a threeyear statistical survey based on data obtained by the Cluster spacecraft. The analysis involves an elaborate orbit-sampling methodology that uses a model field and takes into account the actual solar wind conditions and level of geomagnetic activity. The spatial distribution of the magnetic field and various plasma parameters in the vicinity of the low magnetic field exterior cusp are determined and it is found that: 1) The magnetic field distribution shows the presence of an intermediate region between the magnetosheath and the magnetosphere: the exterior cusp, 2) This region is characterized by the presence of dense plasma of magnetosheath origin; a comparison with the Tsyganenko (1996) magnetic field model shows that it is diamagnetic in nature, 3) The spatial distributions show that three distinct boundaries with the lobes, the dayside plasma sheet and the magnetosheath surround the exterior cusp, 4) The external boundary with the magnetosheath has a sharp bulk velocity gradient, as well as a density decrease and temperature increase as one goes from the magnetosheath to the exterior cusp, 5) While the two inner boundaries form a funnel, the external boundary shows no clear indentation, 6) The plasma and magnetic pressure distributions suggest that the exterior cusp is in equilibrium with its surroundings in a statistical sense, and 7) A preliminary analysis of the bulk flow distributions suggests that the exterior cusp is stagnant under northward IMF conditions but convective under southward IMF conditions.

Abstract. We report on the observation of three high-altitude cusp crossings by the Cluster spacecraft under steady northward IMF conditions. The focus of this study is on the exterior cusp and its boundaries. At the poleward edge of the cusp, large downward jets are present; they are characterized by a dawn-dusk component of the convection velocity opposite to the IMF B y direction and a gradual evolution (velocity filter effect) corresponding to an injection site located at the high-latitude magnetopause tailward of the cusp, with subsequent sunward convection. As one moves from the poleward edge into the exterior cusp proper, the plasma gradually becomes stagnant as the result of the mirroring and scattering of the aforementioned plasma flows. The existence of such a stagnant region (Stagnant Exterior Cusp: SEC) is found in all events studied here even when the IMF B y is large and the clock angle is ∼90 • . The SEC-magnetosheath boundary appears as a spatial structure that has a normal component of the magnetic field pointing inward, in accordance with a probable connection between the region and the magnetosheath (with northward field). This boundary generally has a deHoffmann-Teller velocity that is slow and oriented sunward and downward, compatible with a discontinuity propagating from a location near the high-latitude magnetopause. Although the tangential stress balance is not always satisfied, the SEC-magnetosheath boundary is possibly a rotational discontinuity. Just outside this boundary, there exists a clear sub-Alfvénic plasma depletion layer (PDL). These results are all consistent with the existence of a nearly steady reconnection site at the high-latitude magnetopause tailward of the cusp. We suggest that the stability of the external discontinuity (and of the whole region) is maintained by the presence of the sub-Alfvénic PDL. However, examinationCorrespondence to: B. Lavraud (lavraud@lanl.gov) of the electron data shows the presence of heated electrons propagating parallel to the magnetic field (upward) just outside of the SEC-magnetosheath boundary. This appears inconsistent with their source being the northern lobe reconnection site. Finally, the definition of the magnetopause at high latitudes is revisited. To define the SEC-magnetosheath boundary as the magnetopause would lead to the misnaming of the "exterior cusp".