Global magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the magnetosphere

Journal Article · Sat Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1989 · IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/27.24618· OSTI ID:5983220

Walker, R J; Ogino, T

Global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the interaction between the solar wind and a planetary magnetosphere enable us to calculate self-consistently the time-dependent three-dimensional configuration of the magnetosphere. To demonstrate the application of a global MHD model to the magnetosphere, the authors have calculated the dependence of the magnetospheric configuration and polar-cap structure on the north-south component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). First, they modeled the magnetosphere in the absence of an IMF and found a slowly evolving system in which steady convection leads to slow reconnection in the plasma sheet. When a uniform northward IMF was initially imposed throughout the system the plasma sheet thickened in a small region near the noon-midnight meridian and extended into the tail lobes. When viewed from the polar cap, this appears as a narrow finger of closed field lines extending into the polar cap. The plasma sheet thickening is caused by reconnection on the nightside magnetopause. This plasma sheet extension becomes less pronounced when the northward IMF enters the simulation box with the solar wind. For both cases the convection near midnight is toward the sun, and region-1-type field-aligned currents appear on both sides of the plasma sheet extension. For northward IMF the resulting magnetospheric configuration approached a quasi-steady state in which stable magnetospheric convection was maintained. The simulation results indicate that the presence of a northward B in the plasma sheet stabilizes the tail.

• Research Organization: Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Univ. of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA (US); Research Institute of Atmospherics, Nagoya Univ., Toyokawa (JP)
• OSTI ID: 5983220
• Journal Information: IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci.; (United States), Journal Name: IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci.; (United States) Vol. 17:2; ISSN ITPSB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640201* -- Atmospheric Physics-- Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magetospheric Phenomena
640430 -- Fluid Physics-- Magnetohydrodynamics
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ATMOSPHERES
AURORAE
CONFIGURATION
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
EARTH MAGNETOSPHERE
FLUID MECHANICS
GLOBAL ASPECTS
HYDRODYNAMICS
INTERACTIONS
INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETIC RECONNECTION
MAGNETIC STORMS
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
MECHANICS
PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES
PLANETARY MAGNETOSPHERES
PLASMA SHEET
PLASMOIDS
POLAR-CAP AURORAE
SHAPE
SIMULATION
SOLAR ACTIVITY
SOLAR WIND
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
TIME DEPENDENCE