A detailed study of the plasma parameters and magnetic field measured using instrumentation aboard ISEE 2 during the recovery phase of a substorm on April 24, 1979, is presented. The purpose of this study was to determine the nature and structure of the lobe‐plasma sheet boundary layer. The analysis shows that the lobeward edge of the boundary is consistent with a freestanding slow mode shock. This shock is followed by a slow compression wave containing a trailing ion cyclotron wave which also stands in the flow. Measurement of the cross‐tail current in the shock and the current system within the wave gives a shock thickness and wavelength comparable to but larger than both the upstream ion inertial length and the downstream proton gyroradius. Equality of the shock thickness with the standing ion cyclotron wavelength suggests that the steepness of the front is limited by dispersion rather than current‐driven anomalous resist