Anomalous magnetosheath properties during Earth passage of an interplanetary magnetic cloud
- Univ. of Malta, Msida (Malta)
- Russian Academy of Sciences, Krasnoyarsk (Russian Federation)
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (United States); and others
In this work the authors present a model for the behavior of the magnetosheath during the passage of the earth thru an interplanetary magnetic cloud. They study the variation of plasma flow and field values as a result of this encounter. The unique feature of such encounters is that they present substantial changes in the solar wind conditions along the bow shock and magnetopause for periods of 1 to 2 days. The mach number upstream of the bow shock can be as low as 3, compared to normal value of 8 to 10. The mach number and magnetic shear across the magnetopause have a major impact on the magnetosheath properties. The authors use the encounter of January 14-15, 1988, as a basis for their model, and apply ideal MHD equations, by means of a boundary layer technique, to study changes in field and plasma flow patterns.
- OSTI ID:
- 227129
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 100, Issue A10; Other Information: PBD: 1 Oct 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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