The thickness of the layer where the fluxes were seen was about 1-2 Re. Later Baumjohann et al. Angelopoulos et al. The events are observed near midnight sector and mainly during magnetospheric substorms , although events during quiet times are sometimes seen. In the near-Earth region the flows are predominantly earthward, while further downtail they are directed away from Earth.
Flows are convection flows near the neutral sheet, and more field-aligned off the neutral sheet.
The flows are thought to be associated with magnetotail reconnection processes widely used in substorm models . This would indicate that reconnection triggers substorms. However, Meng et al. Furthermore, they are often associated with local magnetic field variability and transient dipolarization. Space Agency, Kiruna, Sweden, 417-420, 1992.