Validation of magnetopause positions predicted by models against multi-mission magnetopause crossings for the May 2024 superstorm

The May 2024 geomagnetic superstorm was one of the most extreme space weather events of the past two decades. Starting from the Sun, a group of sunspots had grown significantly, producing a substantial solar flare and launching six coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and reaching the Earth, they significantly affected the Earth's magnetosphere. The Shue et al. (1998) model predicts the magnetopause position at a minimum distance of ~4 Re during the main phase of a storm, while the MHD (SWMF) model predicts a minimum at ~3.3 Re. To validate these models, we manually identified the magnetopause crossings observed by THEMIS, GOES, and MMS during the storm period. The crossings are identified by examining the multispacecraft data, and the impact of extreme conditions on the magnetopause location is determined. The observation and the Shue et al. (1998) model suggest that the magnetopause is compressed from 10 Re to 4 Re in a period of no more than 20 minutes. The manual identification from the multi-spacecraft data assumes that the magnetopause location is approximately 5 Re, and this result is consistent with predictions using various models. Moreover, the normal of each magnetopause crossing and its difference between the predicted normal from the Shue et al. (1998) model were calculated. The results can provide key insights into the dynamic magnetopause under extreme conditions.