Abstract

During the analysis of 117 events of multiple inverted-V structure formation using AUREOL-3 satellite data, cases of formation of one, two, three and four structures are identified. The number of observed structures is compared with the predicted by a hot plasma stratification theory. The theory is based on the suggestions, that plasma in the center of plasma sheet is in magnetostatic equilibrium, and plasma sheet ion motion is unmagnetized for the spatial scales in which the structures are formed. The solution of the magnetosphere-ionosphere interaction problem shows that upward field-aligned current may split into separate structures and that the number of structures formed is determined by a parameter which depends on current density, current band width, hot magnetospheric ion temperature, and height-integrated Pedersen conductivity. It was found that in the majority of cases, the theory predicts well the number of observed structures.