Deformation and evolution of solar wind discontinuities through their interactions with the Earth's bow shock

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Kabin, Konstantin
  • Keika, Kunihiro
  • Rankin, Robert
  • Carr, C. M.
  • Carlson, C. W.
  • Glassmeier, Karl-Heinz
  • Magnes, Werner
  • Lucek, Elizabeth
  • McFadden, J. P.
  • Dandouras, Iannis
  • Auster, H. U.
  • Sibeck, D. G.
  • Fornacon, K.-H.
  • Angelopoulos, Vassilis
  • Baumjohann, W.
  • Nakamura, Rumi

• The present study examines the interaction of solar wind discontinuities with the Earth's bow shock, using multipoint observations in the magnetosheath by Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions During Substorms (THEMIS), Cluster, and Double Star TC1. We focus on the deformation and evolution of two discontinuities observed on 21 June 2007, one of which involves a density increase and a magnetic field decrease, while the other is accompanied by a density decrease and a magnetic field increase. In the magnetosheath, the discontinuities are deformed into a concave shape; that is, the normal is inclined toward dusk (dawn) on the dawnside (duskside). The density-increase (-decrease) discontinuity is being compressed (expanded) as it propagates in the magnetosheath. We conclude that the compression (expansion) is due to antisunward (sunward) motion of the bow shock which is initiated or enhanced by the impact of the discontinuity on the bow shock. The steepening of B-z reversal followed by an overshoot of the total magnetic field, which appears at the trailing edge of the density-decrease discontinuity, is also discussed.

• Date created

  2009

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Normals
  • Magnetosphere
  • Plasma
  • Instruments
  • Shape
  • Performance
  • Spacecraft
  • Interplanetary Tangential Discontinuities

• Type of Item

  Article (Published)

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3B56DK2H

• License

  © 2009 American Geophysical Union. This version of this article is open access and can be downloaded and shared. The original author(s) and source must be cited.