DIAMAGNETIC PLASMOIDS AS PART OF DIAMAGNETIC STRUCTURES OF THE SLOW SOLAR WIND AND THEIR IMPACT ON EARTH’S MAGNETOSPHERE

Abstract

We have shown that diamagnetic structures (DSs), which form the basis of the slow quasi-stationary solar wind (SW), are observed in Earth’s orbit as a sequence of DSs of various scales. The analysis of this phenomenon indicates that diamagnetic plasmoids in SW, whose concept was introduced by Karlsson in 2015, are identical to small-scale DSs. We have found that the impact of a sequence of DSs in the slow SW on Earth’s magnetosphere causes an increase in geomagnetic activity. Isolated DSs generate short-term magnetic disturbances whose duration is approximately equal to the DS duration. Hence, a sequence of DSs can cause sawtooth substorms. We emphasize that the interaction of DS in the slow SW under northward interplanetary magnetic field can be associated with penetration of DS high-density plasma into the magnetosphere.