On January 28, 1990, the Dynamics Explorer 1 and Akebono satellites crossed a magnetic field structure at the equatorward edge of the polar cusp at altitudes of 22,000 and 5000 km, respectively, within 6 min of each other. Locally measured plasma particles and fields and magnetometer data from a ground station near the foot of the magnetic field line are more consistent with an interpretation of the structure as that of a standing Alfv¿n wave than that of a quasi-steady field-aligned current sheet. We discus the observations supporting this conclusion and other related observations of field-aligned currents, Alfv¿n waves, and ion energization near the equatorward edge of the cusp. These observations suggest that Alfv¿n waves are commonly present near the equatorward edge of the cusp. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1993