MHD Simulation of Magnetospheric Transport at the Mesoscale

White, W. W.; Schoendorf, J.; Siebert, K. D.; Maynard, N. C.; Weimer, D. R.; Wilson, Gerald L.; Sonnerup, B. U. Ö.; Siscoe, G. L.; Erickson, G. M.

doi:10.1029/gm125p0229

Cited by 46 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Images obtained with the ISM code (White et al, 2001) using as input parameters V ¼500 km/s, n¼5/cm 3 , T¼ 23,210 K, and S P ¼ 6 S for both panels; IMF ¼ (0, 0, 0) nT, left panel, and IMF ¼(0, 0, À 20) nT, right panel. current system to distinguish it from the CF current system, which also flows between the cusps.…”

Section: Appearance Of Non-cf Phenomenamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Aspects of global coherence of magnetospheric behavior

Siscoe

2011

Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics

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Section: Appearance Of Non-cf Phenomenamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Quantities are normalized to the CF condition run. Points obtained with the ISM code(White et al, 2001).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Aspects of global coherence of magnetospheric behavior

Siscoe

2011

Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics

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“…30, could be able to drive a sunward flow of dense plasmas. We note, however, that the dense sunward flows themselves may be generated, without violating the frozen-in condition within the magnetosphere, if the lowlatitude magnetosphere is in a highly non-steady or turbulent state (e.g., White et al, 2001;Borovsky and Funsten, 2003).…”

Section: Global Effects Of Magnetopause Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structure and Dynamics of the Magnetopause and Its Boundary Layers

Hasegawa¹

2012

Monogr. Environ. Earth Planets

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The magnetopause is the key region in space for the transfer of solar wind mass, momentum, and energy into the magnetosphere. During the last decade, our understanding of the structure and dynamics of Earth's magnetopause and its boundary layers has advanced considerably, thanks largely to the advent of multi-spacecraft missions such as Cluster and THEMIS. Moreover, various types of physics-based techniques have been developed for visualizing two-or threedimensional plasma and field structures from data taken by one or more spacecraft, providing a new approach to the analysis of the spatiotemporal properties of magnetopause processes, such as magnetic reconnection and the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI). Information on the size, shape, orientation, and evolution of magnetic flux ropes or flow vortices generated by those processes can be extracted from in situ measurements. Observations show that magnetopause reconnection can be globally continuous for both southward and northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) conditions, but even under such circumstances, more than one X-line may exist within a certain (low-latitude or high-latitude) portion on the magnetopause and some X-lines may retreat anti-sunward. The potential global effects of such behavior are discussed. An overview is also given of the identification, excitation, evolution, and possible consequences of the magnetopause KHI: there is evidence for nonlinear KHI growth and associated vortex-induced reconnection under northward IMF. Observation-based estimates indicate that reconnection tailward of both polar cusps can be the dominant mechanism for solar wind plasma entry into the dayside magnetosphere under northward IMF. However, the mechanism by which the transferred plasma is transported into the central portion of the magnetotail, and the role of magnetopause processes in this transport, remain unclear. Future prospects of magnetopause and other relevant studies are also discussed.

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“…Vortices at the magnetopause have been found for both northward and southward IMF and have been interpreted as Kelvin-Helmholtz waves (Walker et al, 1998;Nykyri and Otto, 2001;Slinker et al, 2003;Nykyri et al, 2006b;Fairfield et al, 2007;Collado-Vega et al, 2007;Claudepierre et al, 2008). Other simulations have featured vortices within the plasma sheet that were not associated with boundary oscillations (El-Alaoui, 2001;White et al, 2001;Ashour-Abdalla et al, 2002;Walker et al, 2006;El-Alaoui et al, 2009.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Borovsky et al (1998) estimated a diffusion time across the plasma sheet (z-direction) of about 1 h. Borovsky (2004) suggested that large-scale shear flows at the magnetopause are a source for turbulence. Both local (Nykyri and Otto, 2001;Nykyri et al, 2006b) and global MHD simulation studies have shown vortices forming at the magnetopause (e.g., Walker et al, 1998Walker et al, , 2006AshourAbdalla et al, 1999AshourAbdalla et al, , 2002White et al, 2001;Slinker et al, 2003;Hasegawa et al, 2004;Fairfield et al, 2000;Collado-Vega et al, 2007;Claudepierre et al, 2008;Hwang et al, 2011). Vortices at the magnetopause have been found for both northward and southward IMF and have been interpreted as Kelvin-Helmholtz waves (Walker et al, 1998;Nykyri and Otto, 2001;Slinker et al, 2003;Nykyri et al, 2006b;Fairfield et al, 2007;Collado-Vega et al, 2007;Claudepierre et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Turbulence in a global magnetohydrodynamic simulation of the Earth's magnetosphere during northward and southward interplanetary magnetic field

El‐Alaoui

Richard

Ashour‐Abdalla

et al. 2012

Nonlin. Processes Geophys.

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Abstract. We report the results of MHD simulations of Earth's magnetosphere for idealized steady solar wind plasma and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) conditions. The simulations feature purely northward and southward magnetic fields and were designed to study turbulence in the magnetotail plasma sheet. We found that the power spectral densities (PSDs) for both northward and southward IMF had the characteristics of turbulent flow. In both cases, the PSDs showed the three scale ranges expected from theory: the energy-containing scale, the inertial range, and the dissipative range. The results were generally consistent with in-situ observations and theoretical predictions. While the two cases studied, northward and southward IMF, had some similar characteristics, there were significant differences as well. For southward IMF, localized reconnection was the main energy source for the turbulence. For northward IMF, remnant reconnection contributed to driving the turbulence. Boundary waves may also have contributed. In both cases, the PSD slopes had spatial distributions in the dissipative range that reflected the pattern of resistive dissipation. For southward IMF there was a trend toward steeper slopes in the dissipative range with distance down the tail. For northward IMF there was a marked dusk-dawn asymmetry with steeper slopes on the dusk side of the tail. The inertial scale PSDs had a dusk-dawn symmetry during the northward IMF interval with steeper slopes on the dawn side. This asymmetry was not found in the distribution of inertial range slopes for southward IMF. The inertial range PSD slopes were clustered around values close to the theoretical expectation for both northward and southward IMF. In the dissipative range, however, the slopes were broadly distributed and the median values were significantly different, consistent with a different distribution of resistivity.

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MHD Simulation of Magnetospheric Transport at the Mesoscale

Cited by 46 publications

References 29 publications

Aspects of global coherence of magnetospheric behavior

Aspects of global coherence of magnetospheric behavior

Structure and Dynamics of the Magnetopause and Its Boundary Layers

Turbulence in a global magnetohydrodynamic simulation of the Earth's magnetosphere during northward and southward interplanetary magnetic field

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