We used multipoint magnetic field, electric field, plasma, and energetic particle observations to study the spatial, temporal, and spectral characteristics of compressional Pc5 pulsations observed deep within the magnetosphere at the end of a strong magnetic storm. We investigated the mode of the waves and their nodal structure. The energetic particles responded directly to the compressional Pc5 pulsations. We interpret the compressional Pc5 waves in terms of drift-mirror instability.

The magnetic profile of a laminar collisionless shock is described within two-fluid plasma theory. This description is valid only for the upstream part of the shock, before the ions begin to gyrate strongly. The emerging structure is fairly universal in a wide range of shock angles and mainly depends on the ratio of the dissipative to the dispersive length.