Comparison of Observed and Modeled Magnetic Fields in the Earth's Magnetosheath

Abstract

AbstractObservations of the magnetic field for two passages through the Earth's magnetosheath are used for comparison with two simple models of the magnetosheath field that describe it as a potential field. We apply the Kobel and Flückiger (1994, https://doi.org/10.1029/94JA01778) model and the Romashets and Vandas (2019, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JA012072) model complemented with the Jelínek et al. (2012, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JA017252) empirical determination of the bow shock and magnetopause shapes and positions. The models yield a satisfactory match to observations when the positions and shapes of the bow shock and the magnetopause are controlled by the instantaneous solar wind upstream dynamic pressure and the instantaneous upstream interplanetary magnetic field vector is taken into account.