Energy transfer in the quiet and disturbed magnetosphere

Progress on magnetospheric energy transfer reported during the 1979–1982 quadrennium is reviewed. A discussion of the macroscopic control of magnetospheric phenomena by solar‐wind electric and magnetic fields and kinetic pressure is followed by sections on energy transfer processes at the dayside magnetopause, in the magnetotail, near geosynchronous orbit, and at altitudes of ≈ 1R E above the auroral oval. Rapid progress in these areas has been stimulated primarily by ISEE and S3‐3 observations and by the development of techniques for the large‐scale computer simulation of plasma phenomena.