Continuous tailward flow in the near-Earth magnetotail observed by TC-1 satellite

On July 11, 2004, a substorm process in the period of continuous tailward flow was observed by the joint exploration of the TC-1, IMAGE and ACE satellites. The substorm observed by the TC-1 in the near-Earth has three stages: the growth phase (from 11:43 to 12:19), the pre-expansion process (from 12:19 to 12:28) and the dipolarization process. The auroral brightening was at 12:26 recorded by the FUV instrument on IMAGE, and the dipolarization occurred two minutes later. During the 45 min period of the tailward flow, the magnetotail experienced the growth phase and the pre-expansion process. When the dipolarization process began, the TC-1 entered the plasma sheet and observed a high speed earthward flow. The field-aligned tailward flow is characterized by the low temperature and high density, which is consistent with the properties of the flow from the ionosphere detected in the near-Earth magnetotail by other satellites. The tailward flow is closely related with the southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), and may have an important effect on the substorm.