Evolution of dipolarization in the near-Earth current sheet induced by Earthward rapid flux transport

We report on the evolution of dipolarization and associated disturbances of the near-Earth current sheet during a substorm on 27 October 2007, based upon Cluster multi-point, multi-scale observations of the night-side plasma sheet at X similar to - 10R(E). Three dipolarization events were observed accompanied by activations on ground magnetograms at 09: 07, 09: 14, and 09: 22 UT. We found that all these events consist of two types of dipolarization signatures: (1) Earthward moving dipolarization pulse, which is accompanied by enhanced rapid Earthward flux transport and is followed by current sheet disturbances with decrease in B-Z and enhanced local current density, and subsequent (2) increase in B-Z toward a stable level, which is more prominent at Earthward side and evolving tailward. During the 09: 07 event, when Cluster was located in a thin current sheet, the dipolarization and fast Earthward flows were also accompanied by further thinning of the current sheet down to a half-thickness of about 1000 km and oscillation in a kink-like mode with a period of similar to 15 s and propagating duskward. Probable cause of this flapping current sheet is shown to be the Earthward high-speed flow. The oscillation ceased as the flow decreased and the field configuration became more dipolar. The later rapid flux transport events at 09: 14 and 09: 22 UT took place when the field configuration was initially more dipolar and were also associated with B-Z disturbance and local current density enhancement, but to a lesser degree. Hence, current sheet disturbances induced by initial dipolarization pulses could differ, depending on the configuration of the current sheet.