MHD Rankine-Hugoniot jump conditions and the terrestrial bow shock - a statistical comparison
The magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) Rankine-Hugoniot jump conditions are the equations which are most often used in studies regarding the alteration of a magnetized plasma flow during the passage through the earth's bow shock. These equations describe the downstream state of the plasma in terms of the upstream parameters. The present investigation is concerned with a determination of the solar wind conditions under which the Rankine-Hugoniot solutions agree with observations. Since its launch in October 1977, the ISEE-1 spacecraft has provided a rather complete coverage of bow shock crossings. The data of 204 selected bow shock crossings are used as input into the Rankine-Hugoniot equations, taking into account a comparison of the results with the downstream observations. It is found that, under certain conditions, the observed downstream conditions are well approximated by the basic MHD model with a polytropic index of 5/3. 6 references.
- Research Organization:
- California Univ., Los Angeles
- OSTI ID:
- 5738873
- Journal Information:
- Adv. Space Res.; (United States), Vol. 4
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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