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Abstract The connection between the magnetosphere and ionosphere is particularly dynamic during substorms. Mesoscale features in the magnetotail are consistent with substorm activity, including magnetic reconnection in the tail, flow channels, and particle injections. Observations of substorm related phenomena can be made using energetic neutral atom (ENA) imagers, in situ satellite measurements, and ground based magnetic field perturbation measurements. Analysis of the 10 October 2014 isolated substorm event is presented. Comparison of the spatial and temporal dynamics of the features seen in equatorial maps generated from ENA data are made with inner magnetosphere in situ measurements and ionospheric features with network analysis of the SuperMAG data. An MHD simulation of the event using OpenGGCM is also compared with the data. 

Abstract Earth's magnetotail plays a critical role in the dynamics of the magnetosphere, particularly during intervals of geomagnetic activity. To improve our understanding of the ion dynamics in this region, energetic neutral atom (ENA) imaging can provide global measurements to place in situ measurements in context and validate simulations. The NASA Two Wide‐angle Imaging Neutral‐atom Spectrometers mission provided near‐continuous observations using ENA imagers. ENA data can be used to calculate maps of equatorial ion temperatures that often show observations of regions of enhanced temperatures associated with phenomena in the magnetotail such as magnetic reconnection and narrow flow channels. We present an algorithm that can be used to search through a collection of these maps to identify intervals with such enhancements for further study. The algorithm results are validated against two sets of related phenomena: (a) a database of dipolarizing flux bundle (DFB) measurements from THEMIS and (b) a list of substorm onsets from SuperMAG. We demonstrate that the algorithm is very good at identifying intervals when there are DFB measurements or substorm onsets as long as there sufficient ENA data. We discuss some potential scientific studies that can result from use of the algorithm. We also show a preliminary application of the algorithm to simulation output to demonstrate the usefulness for other datasets, facilitate comparative studies, and introduce a new method for model validation. 

The geospace response to coronal mass ejections includes phenomena across many regions, from reconnection at the dayside and magnetotail, through the inner magnetosphere, to the ionosphere, and even to the ground. Phenomena occurring in each region are often connected to each other through the magnetic field, but that field undergoes dynamic changes during storms and substorms. Improving our understanding of the geospace response to storms requires a global picture that enables us to observe all the regions simultaneously with both spatial and temporal resolution. Using the Energetic Neutral Atom (ENA) imager on the Two Wide-Angle Imaging Neutral-Atom Spectrometers (TWINS) mission, a temperature map can be calculated to provide a global view of the magnetotail. These maps are combined with in situ measurements at geosynchronous orbit from GOES 13 and 15, auroral images from all sky imagers (ASIs), and ground magnetometer measurements to examine the global geospace response of a coronal mass ejection (CME) driven event on March 12th, 2012. Mesoscale features in the magnetotail are observed throughout the interval, including prior to the storm commencement and during the main phase, which has implications for the dominant processes that lead to pressure buildup in the inner magnetosphere. Auroral enhancements that can be associated with these magnetotail features through magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling are observed to appear only after global reconfigurations of the magnetic field.