Recent progress in studies of magnetospheric storms and substorms.

We have made various degrees of progress during the last two years in the areas covered by Topic III-6, Magnetic Storms and Substorms, including Aurora-Magnetospheric Relations. The finding of the V-potential structure above the auroral oval was certainly an important milestone in the history of magnetospheric research. The relationship between field-aligned currents and ionospheric currents has become increasingly clear during the last few years. Extensive attempts have been made to understand how the solar wind couples its energy to the magnetosphere and to find the expression for the rate of input energy from the solar wind to the magnetosphere. On the basis of this progress, a new model of the solar wind-magnetosphere relationship has begun to emerge.The interpretation of observed magnetotail phenomena is still very confusing. Some of the problems associated with this confusion are discussed. Decisive observations to identify the basic processes associated with the “injection” of ring current particles have not been made. However, the finding of O+ ions in the ring current belt was an exciting event during the last two years.