A three‐dimensional asymmetric magnetopause model

Abstract

A new three‐dimensional asymmetric magnetopause model has been developed for corrected GSM coordinates and parameterized by the solar wind dynamic and magnetic pressures (Pd + Pm), the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) Bz, and the dipole tilt angle. On the basis of the magnetopause crossings from Geotail, IMP 8, Interball, TC1, Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS), Wind, Cluster, Polar, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), GOES, and Hawkeye, and the corresponding upstream solar wind parameters from ACE, Wind, or OMNI, this model is constructed by the Levenberg‐Marquardt method for nonlinear multiparameter fitting step‐by‐step over the divided regions. The asymmetries of the magnetopause and the indentations near the cusps are appropriately described in this new model. In addition, the saturation effect of IMF Bz on the subsolar distance and the extrapolation for the distant tail magnetopause are also considered. On the basis of this model, the power law index for the subsolar distance versus Pd + Pm is a bit less than −1/6, the northward IMF Bz almost does not influence the magnetopause, and the dipole tilt angle is very important to the north–south asymmetry and the location of indentations. In comparison with the previous empirical magnetopause models based on our database, the new model improves prediction capability to describe the three‐dimensional structure of the magnetopause. It is shown that this new model can be used to quantitatively study how Pd + Pm compresses the magnetopause, how the southward IMF Bz erodes the magnetopause, and how the dipole tilt angle influences the north–south asymmetry and the indentations.