Plasma sheet parameters and their statistical relationship to ring current injections

We are interested in understanding the physical process in the plasma sheet and inner magnetosphere during magnetic storms that differentiates ring current injection intervals from non-injection intervals. We contrast plasma sheet plasma parameters during injection intervals to parameters during similar non-injection intervals. Looking at the temperature, density, and pressure alone is misleading, since variations in these quantities may be due to variations in the level of magnetic stretching, which would adiabatically alter the plasma moments and/or cause apparent variations due to changes in magnetic field mapping. In order to best account for these, we use a Tsyganenko magnetic field model to estimate the effect of the magnetic field, and calculate adiabatically invariant quantities to represent the pressure, temperature, and density. The results of the study seem to show that the invariant pressure and invariant density are lower than usual during ring current injection intervals, while the invariant temperature is apparently not significantly different. The implications and physical interpretations of the results as they relate to magnetic storms will be explored.