The Cusp: Open Questions

Abstract

The northern and southern cusps play an important role in the overall solar wind-magnetosphere- ionosphere interaction. Optical, radar, and ground magnetometer observations of transient events in the dayside auroral oval provide strong evidence for bursty reconnection on the dayside magnetopause occurring along extended reconnection lines during periods of southward and/or ecliptic IMF orientation. During periods of northward IMF orientation, the same ground-based observations provide evidence for reconnection on the magnetopause poleward of the cusps. Cluster observations in the cusp have confirmed the transition in reconnection locations from the dayside to the high-latitude magnetopause as a function of IMF orientation, while in situ observations of the dayside magnetopause indicate that bursty reconnection frequently generates transient events marked by symmetric bipolar magnetic field signatures normal to the nominal magnetopause and magnetic field strength enhancements. In this talk we review recent and invoke new results from analytical, two-dimensional hybrid, and three-dimensional MHD codes to describe the motion and fate of the newly-reconnected magnetic field lines within FTEs, with a view to predicting (I) the locations where events form, (2) the mechanism(s) by which they are generated, (3) their signatures on the dayside and flank magnetopause, (4) their antisunward motion, (5) their interaction with the cusps, and (6) their signatures in the dayside auroral oval, including their occurrence patterns as a function of season. We compare these predictions with observations, in particular the results of a statistical study of Interball-1 FTEs and new multipoint THEMIS observations of FTEs.