http://arxiv.org/abs/2103.07448
Based on global hybrid simulation results, we predict that foreshock turbulence can cause magnetopause reconnection and Earth-sized indents equatorward of the cusps. The interplanetary magnetic field in the simulation is mostly Sun-Earth aligned with a weak northward and zero dawn-dusk component, such that subsolar magnetopause reconnection is not expected without foreshock turbulence modifying the magnetosheath fields. The turbulence can create large magnetic shear angles across the magnetopause and enable local bursty reconnection. Turbulence-caused reconnection and indents can potentially contribute to dayside loss of planetary plasmas through ionospheric field lines opened to the upstream solar wind and interception of the indented magnetopause with particle drift shells.
L. Chen, J. Ng, Y. Omelchenko, et. al.
Mon, 15 Mar 21
8/36
Comments: submitted to Geophysical Research Letters