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The impact of Radial and Non-Radial IMF on the Earth's Magnetopause Size, Shape, and Dawn-Dusk Asymmetry from Global 3D Kinetic Simulations.
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  • Suleiman Baraka,
  • Olivier Le Contel Le Contel,
  • Lotfi Ben-Jaffel,
  • Bill Moore
Suleiman Baraka
National Institute of Aerospace, National Institute of Aerospace, National Institute of Aerospace

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Olivier Le Contel Le Contel
CNRS/Ecole Polytechnique/Sorbonne Université/Université Paris-Saclay/Obser. de Paris, CNRS/Ecole Polytechnique/Sorbonne Université/Université Paris-Saclay/Obser. de Paris, CNRS/Ecole Polytechnique/Sorbonne Université/Université Paris-Saclay/Obser. de Paris
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Lotfi Ben-Jaffel
Institut d'Astrophysique de Plasma, Institut d'Astrophysique de Plasma, Institut d'Astrophysique de Plasma
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Bill Moore
National Institute of Aerospace, National Institute of Aerospace, National Institute of Aerospace
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Abstract

The boundary between the solar wind (SW) and the Earths magnetosphere, the magnetopause (MP), is highly dynamic. Its location and shape depend on SW dynamic pressure and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) orientation. We use a 3D kinetic Particle-In-Cell code (IAPIC) to simulate an event observed by THEMIS spacecraft on July 16, 2007. We investigate the impact of radial (θBx=0◦) and non-radial (θBx=50◦) IMF on the shape and size of Earths MP for a dipole tilt of 31◦ using maximum density gradient and pressure balance methods. Using the Shue model as a reference (MP at 10.3 RE), we find that for non-radial IMF the MP expands by 1.4 and 1.7RE along the the Sun-Earth (OX) and tilted magnetic equatorial (Tilt) axes, respectively, and it expands by 0.5 and 1.6RE for radial IMF along the same respective axes. When the effect of backstreaming ions is removed from the bulk flow, the expansion ranges are 1.0 and 1.3RE and 0.2, and 1.2RE, respectively. It is found that the percentage of backstreaming to bulk flow ions are 16.5% and 20% for radial and non-radial IMF. We also show that when the backstreaming ions are not identified, up to 40% of the observed expansion that is due to backstreaming particles can be inadvertently attributed to a change in the SW upstream properties. Finally, we quantified the temperature anisotropy in the magnetosheath, and observe a strong dawn-dusk asymmetry in the MP location, being more extended on the duskside than on the dawnside.
Oct 2021Published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics volume 126 issue 10. 10.1029/2021JA029528