Nightside field-aligned current during the April 6, 2000 superstorm

Using the east-west geomagnetic disturbance fields observed from stations at mid-latitudes, we investigate the characteristics of field-aligned currents on the nightside during the April 6, 2000 superstorm. The results indicate that there is an eastward disturbance on the nightside of Northern Hemisphere during the main phase of magnetic storm, while the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) is continued southward. The positive disturbances in the postmidnight are larger than that in the premidnight. This suggests that upward field-aligned currents develop on the nightside, when the IMF is directed southward. The peak of upward field-aligned currents is located in postmidnight, and it will be more obvious at substorm expansion. We get the conclusion that both partial ring current and region-2 field-aligned current shift to dusk sector. The upward region-2 current is decreased at substorm onset, and intensified after it. We also investigate the relationship between the upward field-aligned currents on the nightside and the auroral electrojets at high latitudes. It shows a good correspondence between region-2 current and the westward electrojet in the postmidnight. We suppose that they are both associated with the convection electric field.