It is shown that in the post-noon quadrant, the combination of field-aligned currents associated with the eastward auroral electrojet and polar cap currents produces a magnetic field perturbation pattern on the ground at at TRIAD altitude (800 km) in good agreement with observations. This model permits downward net field-aligned current flow across the post-noon sector auroral oval while at the same time replicating the observation of a sharp level shift in the east-west component of the magnetic perturbation field at 800-km altitude attributed, until now, to net upward field-aligned current. These results reconcile the contentions of Hughes and Rostoker (1977,1979) that there is net downward field-aligned current across the post-noon auroral oval and of Sugiura and Potemra (1976) that the net current flow in the post-noon quadrant is upward.