A case study of transient event motion in the magnetosphere and in the ionosphere

We present a case study of the magnetospheric and ionospheric response to a series of repetitive (7–8 min) solar wind dynamic pressure and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) strength variations generated at the bow shock. During a period of duskward and antisunward IMF orientation, the magnetospheric and ionospheric observations indicate transient events moving dawnward and duskward away from a point of origin at or after local noon. In contrast, during a subsequent period of dawnward and antisunward IMF orientation, the observations indicate events moving duskward away from a point of origin at or prior to 0900 LT. We consider explanations in terms of pressure pulse driven riplets on the magnetopause or directly driven bursts of antiparallel merging.