Proxy and in-situ studies of dayside magnetopause reconnection
- California Univ., Los Angeles, CA (United States). Inst. of Geophysics and Planetary Physics
- Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
The functional dependence of magnetic reconnection on solar wind parameters is examined utilizing the am geomagnetic index and satellite observations at the magnetopause. Several parameters in the solar wind are found to control geomagnetic activity. Reconnection is found to be most efficient when the interplanetary magnetic field is southward, although some activity remains when the IMF is horizontal and slightly northward. The reconnection efficiency increases with the solar wind dynamic pressure but decreases when the Mach number is greater than 7.5. These results are compared with the functional dependencies found by correlating solar wind and magnetosheath measurements with observations of accelerated tows at the magnetopause. Accelerated tows are found to occur most often when the interplanetary magnetic field is directed southward. However, accelerated flows do occur when the IMF is horizontal and northward. Accelerated flows are also affected by the magnetosheath beta such that higher beta inhibits their occurrence. The location of accelerated tows indicates that reconnection occurs mainly at the subsolar point.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); California Univ., Los Angeles, CA (United States). Inst. of Geophysics and Planetary Physics
- Sponsoring Organization:
- Department of Defense, Washington, DC (United States); National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 10109643
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-92-3315; CONF-9205201-2; ON: DE93003740
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Solar-terrestrial predictions workshop,Ottawa (Canada),18-22 May 1992; Other Information: PBD: [1992]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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