Identifying the zoo of waves in Magnetosheathjets using MMS burst data

The magnetosheath is a region downstream of the bow shock filled with turbulent, decelerated solar wind plasma which is flowing earthwards. This solar wind flow sometimes shows signatures of localized structures with enhanced dynamic pressure, so called magnetosheath jets. These jets are often  associated with low angles between the bow shock normal and the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) direction, the so called quasi-parallel bow shock. Less often they are also found behind the quasi-perpendicular bow shock.

As jets propagate through the magnetosheath, they interact with the surrounding plasma. Studying waves inside, and in the vicinity of, jets is a step towards understanding the interaction of jets with the surrounding plasma. So far whistler waves, electrostatic waves, waves in the lower hybrid frequency range as well as low frequency waves have been reported. However, the sources of these waves are unknown. In addition, further types of waves may be associated with the jets.

We conduct a study on waves in magnetosheath jets using burst mode data of the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission. The magnetic and electric field data are provided with a sampling rate of 8 kHz, while previous studies used data sets with much lower sampling rates. The high time resolution allows us to study different waves over a large frequency range and investigate properties of these waves. In addition, we discuss possible generation mechanisms.