Submitting Campus
Daytona Beach
Department
Physical Sciences
Document Type
Article
Publication/Presentation Date
8-12-2013
Abstract/Description
The magnetosheath operates as a natural filter between the solar wind and the magnetospheric plasma. As a result of this, the magnetosheath plays a crucial role in the plasma momentum and energy transport from the interplanetary medium into the magnetosphere. Statistical studies of the magnetosheath are difficult due to the dynamic nature of the terrestrial bow shock and the magnetopause. As a result of this, the spatial and temporal dependence of magnetosheath plasma properties under varying solar wind conditions is still not completely understood. We present a study of magnetosheath plasma properties using 5 years of THEMIS and OMNI data to produce statistical maps of fundamental magnetosheath plasma properties. The magnetosheath interplanetary medium reference frame is applied to present data in a normalized reference frame which accounts for both boundary and orbital motion. The statistical maps are compared with the MHD runs from the CCMC-BATS-R-US model which agree favorably. The results are also used to investigate the presence of any magnetosheath plasma parameter asymmetries and their possible causes.
Publication Title
Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/jgra.50465
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Scholarly Commons Citation
Dimmock, A. P., and K. Nykyri (2013), The statistical mapping of magnetosheath plasma properties based on THEMIS measurements in the magnetosheath interplanetary medium reference frame, J. Geophys. Res. Space Physics, 118, 4963–4976, doi:10.1002/jgra.50465
