Statistical properties of the fast flows accompanied by dipolarization in the near-Earth tail

Using magnetic field and plasma moment data obtained by THEMIS satellites(A, D, and E), we selected 203 fast flow events accompanied by dipolarization in the near-Earth region( X(GSM) = -7 ~ -12 RE) and statistically examined their properties. It was found that most of the fast flows show the maximum velocity between 1 minute before dipolarization onset and 2 minutes after onset and proceed earthward and duskward. We also found that only the flows with low velocity of less than 400 km/s are observed at X > -8 RE, while the high velocity flows(as well as low velocity flows) are observed at the further tailward region(X < -8 RE). And most of the tailward flows are slow regardless of distance at X(GSM) = -7 ~ -12 RE. On the other hand, if we consider the fast flow as a bubble (Pontius and Wolf, 1990), the entropy parameter, PV5/3 is an important factor to describe the plasma sheet dynamics. Thus we investigated the relationship between the flow velocity and the amount of change in PV5/3 before and after dipolarization onset and found out that the dipolarizations with more depleted entropy parameter tend to show higher flow velocity. Also we examined how the magnetic field at geosynchronous orbit responds to the fast flow accompanied by dipolarization in the near-earth plasma sheet, using the measurements from GOES 11 and 12 statellites. We found that most of the fast flows do not reach geosynchronous orbit as suggested by Ohtani et al. (2006).