Towards the Most Accurate Substorm Onset Timing: Methods and Accuracy

Determining the precise onset time of magnetospheric substorms is fundamental to understanding the physical processes that initiate and drive their subsequent evolution. However, onset timings derived from different observations and techniques—including auroral imaging, ground-based magnetometers, and in-situ and remote-sensing measurements—can differ significantly, introducing uncertainty when comparing events and testing substorm theories.

This Specialist Discussion Meeting will bring together researchers using different approaches to substorm onset identification to compare their methodologies, timing accuracy, and physical interpretation. Through observational studies, methodological comparisons, and discussion, the meeting aims to assess the strengths and limitations of existing techniques, explore how different onset signatures are related, and identify pathways towards more accurate and consistent determination of substorm onset.

Programme to be released shortly

Convenors

Siyuan Wu, Daniel K. Whiter, Colin Forsyth, and Christian Lao.

Photo Credit: Daniel K. Whiter