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Abstract

We review recent studies of magnetotail flow bursts and their connection to the inner magnetosphere. The flow bursts are propelled by the curvature force of the dipolarizing flux bundles released by tail reconnection. They energize the inner edge of the plasma sheet at times of substorms, drive substorm field-aligned currents, and cause particle injections, plasma waves, and particle precipitation. These flow bursts do not enhance the ring current significantly at non-storm times (by definition), but they are a critical aspect of substorm dynamics - they are observed to stop outside geosynchronous altitude [Sergeev et al., JGR, 2012]. Storm main phase flow bursts also tend to stop prior to arriving at the geosynchronous region [Runov et al., JGR, 2021]. During storms, only some flow bursts have been found to be initiated at a very-near Earth reconnection site (closer than 13 Earth radii) and those only occur during the main phase [Beyene et al., JGR, 2023 in prep.]. During storms, while there exist numerous transient enhancements of an otherwise elevated AE index, there are very few embedded substorm-like intervals. Early work [Kissinger et al., JGR, 2014] also suggests that steady magnetospheric convection (SMC) intervals during storms cause enhancements of relativistic electrons in the inner magnetosphere. However, neither substorms nor SMCs are common during storms [Beyene et al., JGR 2022]. Here we explore how the intermittent, fast flows from tail reconnection might have access to the near-Earth during storms and how they may power the ring current.