The dynamics and upstream distributions of ions reflected at the Earth's bow shock

Abstract

Using test particle trajectories in a simplified model of a supercritical, oblique, collisionless shock, we investigate the interaction of solar wind thermal ions with the earth's bow shock. We present results for shocks with shock angle (θBn) between 35° and 60° and show that their velocity space signatures are consistent with observations of many upstream ion events, particularly gyrating ions and field‐aligned ion beams. The shock is modeled as a finite, planar discontinuity in the magnetic field and in the electrostatic potential, which is also given an overshoot at the shock. We find that the shock can produce backstreaming ions by reflecting a small fraction of the incident distribution. The reflected particle trajectories are of three types: specularly reflected, multiple traversal, and multiple bounce. All backstreaming reflected ions are found to suffer specular reflection on their first encounter with the shock surface; their subsequent behavior is determined by the angle θBn and their initial conditions.