A proposed neutral line signature

An identifying signature is proposed for the existence and location of the neutral line in the magnetotail. The signature, abrupt density and temperature changes in the Earth‐tail direction, was first discovered in test particle simulations. Such temperature variations have been observed is ISEE data (Huang et al., 1992), but their connection to the possible existence of a neutral line in the tail has not yet been established. The proposed signature develops earlier than the ion velocity space ridge of Martin and Speiser (1988) but can only be seen by spacecraft in the vicinity of the neutral line, while the latter can locate a neutral line remotely.