EGU23-3234
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-3234
EGU General Assembly 2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Interplanetary magnetic field effects on the magnetopause location

Maryam Aghabozorgi Nafchi1, František Němec1, Gilbert Pi1, Zdeněk Němeček1, Jana Šafránková1, Kostiantyn Grygorov1, and Jiří Šimůnek2
Maryam Aghabozorgi Nafchi et al.
  • 1Charles University, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Department of Surface and Plasma Science, Prague, Czechia (ma.aghabozorgi@gmail.com)
  • 2Department of Space Physics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic

We use a large set of nearly 15,000 subsolar magnetopause crossings identified in the THEMIS A-E, Magion 4, Geotail, and Interball-1 satellite data to analyze the effect of interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) on the location of the magnetopause. Differences between the observed and empirical model magnetopause distances are used to account for the magnetopause distance variations due to the changes in the solar wind dynamic pressure. It is shown that not only the IMF Bz component but also the IMF clock angle has a significant effect on the magnetopause location, which is not included in traditional empirical models. Additionally, IMF By component can cause considerable dawn-dusk asymmetry in the shape of the magnetopause at times of very low Alfvén Mach numbers (MA<4). Both the magnitude and orientation of the IMF By component seem to affect the magnetopause distance. The obtained results are consistent with a global MHD model run at the Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC).

How to cite: Aghabozorgi Nafchi, M., Němec, F., Pi, G., Němeček, Z., Šafránková, J., Grygorov, K., and Šimůnek, J.: Interplanetary magnetic field effects on the magnetopause location, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-3234, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-3234, 2023.

Supplementary materials

Supplementary material file