Relationships between magnetic storms and the Pc1 micropulsations

Using Pc1 data gathered at Ottawa (45.4°N, 75.6°W; L = 3.5) during the International Magnetospheric Study (IMS) period, relationships between ssc, Dst, and the occurrence of Pc1 pulsations are examined. It is found that the sudden compressions of the magnetoshere that took place in the postnoon period (13–22 hLT) frequently produced Pc1 pulsations at Ottawa. This pulsational activity took place about 25 to 125 hours after the occurrence of ssc’s of amplitude 5–25 nT and duration 2–6 min. Pc1’s also occur 20 to 40 hours after maximum Dst deviations in the range 50–110 nT, when the ring current has decayed to a considerable extent (5 nT < Dst < 25 nT). In agreement withHeacock andKivinen (1972), it appears that during the storm recovery phase energetic particles of the ring current with anisotropic pitch angle distribution interact with the surrounding cold plasma of the plasmasphere. When stable trapping limit is reached, proton cyclotron instability is triggered and pulsations in the Pc1 period range are generated.