Supermagnetosonic subsolar magnetosheath jets and their effects: from the solar wind to the ionospheric convection
It has recently been proposed that ripples inherent to the bow shock during radial interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) may produce local high speed flows in the magnetosheath. These jets can have a dynamic pressure much larger than the dynamic pressure of the solar wind. On 17 March 2007, several...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2012-01-01
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| Series: | Annales Geophysicae |
| Online Access: | https://www.ann-geophys.net/30/33/2012/angeo-30-33-2012.pdf |
| Summary: | It has recently been proposed that ripples inherent to the bow shock during
radial interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) may produce local high speed flows
in the magnetosheath. These jets can have a dynamic pressure much larger than
the dynamic pressure of the solar wind. On 17 March 2007, several jets of
this type were observed by the Cluster spacecraft. We study in detail these
jets and their effects on the magnetopause, the magnetosphere, and the
ionospheric convection. We find that (1) the jets could have a scale size of
up to a few <i>R</i><sub>E</sub> but less than ~6 <i>R</i><sub>E</sub> transverse
to the <i>X</i><sub>GSE</sub> axis; (2) the jets caused significant local
magnetopause perturbations due to their high dynamic pressure; (3) during the
period when the jets were observed, irregular pulsations at the geostationary
orbit and localised flow enhancements in the ionosphere were detected. We
suggest that these inner magnetospheric phenomena were caused by the
magnetosheath jets. |
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| ISSN: | 0992-7689 1432-0576 |