Global Compression of the Plasma Sheet and Magnetotail During Intense Storms From THEMIS Observations

Abstract We estimate the global impact of storms on the global structure and dynamics of the night side plasma sheet from observations by the NASA mission Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS). We focus on an intense storm occurring in December 2015 triggered by interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs). It starts with a storm sudden commencement (SSC) phase (SYM‐H +50 nT) followed by a growth phase (SYM‐H −188 nT at the minimum) and then a long recovery phase lasting several days. We investigate THEMIS observations when the spacecraft were located in the midnight sector of the plasma sheet at distances typically between 8 and 13 Earth's radii. It is found that the plasma sheet has been globally compressed up to a value of about 4 nPa during the SSC and main phases, that is, 8 times larger than its value during the quiet phase before the event. This compression occurs during periods of high dynamic pressure in the ICME (20 nPa) about one order of magnitude larger than its value in the pristine solar wind. We infer a global increase of the lobe magnetic field from 30 to 100 nT, confirmed by THEMIS data just outside the plasma sheet. During the SSC and main phases, the plasma sheet is found thinner by a factor of 2 relative to its thickness at quiet times, while the Tsyganenko T96 magnetic field model shows very stretched magnetic field lines from inner magnetospheric regions toward the night side. During the recovery phase, whereas the interplanetary pressure has dropped off, the plasma sheet tends to gradually recover its quiet phase characteristics (pressure, thickness, magnetic configuration, etc.) during a long recovery phase of several days.