THE MAGNETOSPHERIC RESPONSE TO THE CME PASSAGE OF JANUARY 10-11, 1997, AS SEEN AT GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBIT

The response of the magnetosphere to the passage of the January 10-11, 1997 coronal mass ejection (CME) is described from the vantage point of geosynchronous orbit. Salient aspects of the observed response incl ude 1) the global compression of the magnetosphere, including plasma s heet density enhancements and geosynchronous magnetopause crossings; 2 ) strongly stretched magnetotail field, with attendant substorm activi ty; 3) enhanced magnetospheric convection, leading to plasmaspheric er osion and dayside drainage; 4) no detectable superdense plasma sheet; and 5) propagating plasma-sheet density fronts. The various aspects ar e related to the variations in the solar wind and interplanetary magne tic field impinging on the magnetosphere.