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About 275,000 plasma measurements with the AMPTE/IRM satellite in the magnetotail are used for a statistical survey on the geometry of the near‐Earth plasma sheet. Near the midnight meridian the plasma sheet has a typical thickness of 6 RE; at its flanks it is more than twice as thick. The average plasma sheet thickness does not vary much with |XGSM| during disturbed intervals, but during quiet periods the plasma sheet is considerably thinner at greater distances. The best chances to see the plasma sheet boundary layer are near |ZNS| ≈ 5 RE, except during quiet times for |XGSM| > 15 RE. In the latter case, the plasma sheet boundary layer is much closer to the neutral sheet and the central plasma sheet may often be thinner than 2 RE.
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Baumjohann et al. (1990) studied this question.
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