Solar wind control of the magnetopause shape, location, and motion

We have assembled a data set of 1821 magnetopause crossings. Separate fits to subsets of this data set determine the magnetopause location as a function of solar wind dynamic pressure and interplanetary magnetic field orientation. Solar wind dynamic pressure variations produce self-similar magnetopause motion on time scales of one hour or longer. We verify the pressure balance relationship between the solar wind dynamic pressure and the location of the subsolar magnetopause. We quantify the relationship between the IMF Bz, region l Birkeland current strength, the position of the subsolar magnetopause, and the shape of the dayside magnetosphere. Cross sections of the dayside magnetopause in planes perpendicular to the Earth-Sun line are oblate.

[1]  A. Hundhausen,et al.  Helium in the solar wind , 1970 .

[2]  Nikolai A. Tsyganenko,et al.  Determination of the magnetospheric current system parameters and development of experimental geomagnetic field models based on data from IMP and HEOS satellites , 1982 .

[3]  V. Ferraro.  An approximate method of estimating the size and shape of the stationary hollow carved out in a neutral ionized stream of corpuscles impinging on the geomagnetic field , 1960 .

[4]  Christopher T. Russell,et al.  Inward motion of the magnetopause before a substorm , 1970 .

[5]  J. Slavin,et al.  Magnetic flux transfer associated with expansions and contractions of the dayside magnetosphere , 1978 .

[6]  M. Schield.  Pressure balance between solar wind and magnetosphere , 1969 .

[7]  D. Martyn.  The Theory of Magnetic Storms and Auroras , 1951, Nature.

[8]  G. Paschmann,et al.  The frontside boundary layer of the magnetosphere and the problem of reconnection , 1977 .

[9]  Christopher T. Russell,et al.  A survey of dayside flux transfer events observed by ISEE 1 and 2 magnetometers , 1984 .

[10]  C. T. Russell,et al.  Initial ISEE magnetometer results: magnetopause observations , 1978 .

[11]  A. Summers,et al.  Hydromagnetic flow around the magnetosphere , 1966 .

[12]  D. H. Fairfield,et al.  Average and unusual locations of the Earth's magnetopause and bow shock , 1971 .

[13]  V. Formisano,et al.  The three-dimensional shape of the magnetopause , 1979 .

[14]  C. Rufenach,et al.  A study of geosynchronous magnetopause crossings , 1989 .

[15]  T. Hill,et al.  Interplanetary magnetic field direction and the configuration of the day side magnetosphere , 1975 .

[16]  T. Eastman.  The Plasma Boundary Layer and Magnetopause Layer of the Earth's Magnetosphere. , 1979 .

[17]  H. Rosenbauer,et al.  Plasma and Magnetic Field Characteristics of the Distant Polar Cusp near Local Noon: The Entry Layer , 1976 .

[18]  L. Zanetti,et al.  The Relationship of Birkeland and Ionospheric Current Systems to the Interplanetary Magnetic Field , 1986 .

[19]  Y. Feldstein,et al.  On solar wind interaction with the earth's magnetosphere , 1973 .

[20]  G. Voigt.  Magnetospheric Equilibrium Configurations and Slow Adiabatic Convection , 1986 .

[21]  W. Lyatsky,et al.  Field-aligned currents and erosion of the dayside magnetosphere , 1975 .

[22]  J. Slavin,et al.  Shocks and storm sudden commencements , 1986 .

[23]  D. Baker,et al.  Multispacecraft observations at the compressed magnetopause following the 13 July 1982 interplanetary shock , 1986 .

[24]  K. Maezawa.  Dependence of the magnetopause position on the southward interplanetary magnetic field , 1974 .

[25]  Christopher T. Russell,et al.  Initial ISEE magnetometer results - Magnetopause observations , 1978 .

[26]  G. Atkinson,et al.  Two‐dimensional Chapman‐Ferraro Problem with neutral sheet: 1. The boundary , 1968 .

[27]  A. Lazarus,et al.  Magnetic field line draping in the plasma depletion layer , 1990 .

[28]  C. Russell,et al.  Substorm and interplanetary magnetic field effects on the geomagnetic tail lobes , 1975 .

[29]  C. Meng,et al.  Magnetotail variations associated with the southward interplanetary magnetic field , 1974 .

[30]  B. Hyett,et al.  The effect of a uniform external pressure on the boundary of the geomagnetic field in a steady solar wind , 1963 .

[31]  N. Ness.  The Earth's magnetic tail , 1965 .

[32]  J. Binsack,et al.  Explorer 33 and 35 plasma observations of magnetosheath flow , 1972 .

[33]  J. Slavin,et al.  A three dimensional gasdynamic model for solar wind flow past nonaxisymmetric magnetospheres: Application to Jupiter and Saturn , 1989 .

[34]  J. Dungey.  Interplanetary Magnetic Field and the Auroral Zones , 1961 .

[35]  C. Kennel,et al.  CHANGES IN MAGNETOSPHERIC CONFIGURATION DURING SUBSTORM GROWTH PHASE. , 1972 .

[36]  J. Kan,et al.  A model of the open magnetosphere , 1974 .