Southward Magnetic Field Research Articles

Unexpected major geomagnetic storm caused by faint eruption of a solar trans-equatorial flux rope

Some geomagnetic storms’ solar origins are ambiguous, making them hard to predict. On March 23, 2023, a severe geomagnetic storm occurred, however, forecasts based on remote-sensing observations failed to predict it. Here, we show clear evidence that this storm originates from the eruption of a trans-equatorial, longitudinal and low-density magnetic flux rope (FR) with weaker coronal emission and no chromospheric signs. The FR’s gentle eruption results in a faint full-halo coronal mass ejection (CME), which is missed by forecasters and not included in CME catalogs. Combining magnetic field modeling and in-situ measurements, we reveal the FR’s southward axial magnetic field as the main cause of the geomagnetic storm. This CME is the stealthiest one reported causing a severe geomagnetic storm. Our study highlights that erupting trans-equatorial FRs can generate major geomagnetic storms in a stealthy way. Characteristic observational signatures of similar eruptions are proposed to help in future forecasts.

Automatic Detection of Large-scale Flux Ropes and Their Geoeffectiveness with a Machine-learning Approach

Abstract Detecting large-scale flux ropes (FRs) embedded in interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) and assessing their geoeffectiveness are essential, since they can drive severe space weather. At 1 au, these FRs have an average duration of 1 day. Their most common magnetic features are large, smoothly rotating magnetic fields. Their manual detection has become a relatively common practice over decades, although visual detection can be time-consuming and subject to observer bias. Our study proposes a pipeline that utilizes two supervised binary classification machine-learning models trained with solar wind magnetic properties to automatically detect large-scale FRs and additionally determine their geoeffectiveness. The first model is used to generate a list of autodetected FRs. Using the properties of the southward magnetic field, the second model determines the geoeffectiveness of FRs. Our method identifies 88.6% and 80% of large-scale ICMEs (duration ≥ 1 day) observed at 1 au by the Wind and the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory missions, respectively. While testing with continuous solar wind data obtained from Wind, our pipeline detected 56 of the 64 large-scale ICMEs during the 2008–2014 period (recall = 0.875), but also many false positives (precision = 0.56), as we do not take into account any additional solar wind properties other than the magnetic properties. We find an accuracy of 0.88 when estimating the geoeffectiveness of the autodetected FRs using our method. Thus, in space-weather nowcasting and forecasting at L1 or any planetary missions, our pipeline can be utilized to offer a first-order detection of large-scale FRs and their geoeffectiveness.

Evaluating the Geoeffectiveness of Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections: Insights from a Support Vector Machine Approach with SHAP Value Analysis

In this study, we compiled a data set of 510 interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICME) events from 1996–2023 and trained a radial basis function support vector machine (RBF-SVM) model to investigate the geoeffectiveness of ICMEs and its dependence on the solar wind conditions observed at 1 au. The model demonstrates high performance in classifying geomagnetic storm intensities at specific Disturbance Storm Time thresholds and evaluating the geoeffectiveness of ICMEs. The model’s output was assessed using precision, recall, F1 score, and true skill statistics (TSS), complemented by stratified k-folds cross-validation for robustness. At the −50 nT threshold, the model achieves precisions of 0.84 and 0.93, recalls of 0.94 and 0.82, and corresponding F1 scores of 0.89 and 0.87 for the categories separated by this threshold, respectively. Overall accuracy is noted at 0.88, with a TSS of 0.76. Despite challenges at the −100 nT threshold due to data set imbalance and limited samples, the model maintains an overall accuracy of 0.87, with a TSS of 0.69, demonstrating the model’s ability to effectively handle imbalanced data. Physical insights were gained through model explanation with a SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) value analysis, pinpointing the role of the southward magnetic field component in triggering geomagnetic storms, as well as the critical impact of shock-ICME combinations in intensifying these storms. The effective application of an SVM model with SHAP value analysis offers a way to understand and predict the geoeffectiveness of ICMEs. It also underscores the capability of a relatively simple machine learning model in predicting space weather and revealing the underlying physical mechanisms.

Correlations of Plasma Properties Between the Upstream Magnetosheath and the Downstream Outflow Region of Magnetopause Reconnection

AbstractThe impact of upstream conditions on magnetopause reconnection has been an intriguing question in solar wind‐magnetosphere coupling. In this study, we conduct a statistical analysis of plasma properties in the reconnection outflow region and the associated upstream solar wind/magnetosheath. We observe that the normalized ion density (N/Nsw) decreases and the flow speed (V/Vsw) increases in the upstream magnetosheath with distance from the subsolar point, consistent with previous models and observations. The magnetic field strength (|B|), ion density (N), and ion bulk speed (|V|) in the upstream magnetosheath exhibit close correlations with those in the reconnection outflow region. This upstream‐downstream correlation likely arises from the process of forming reconnection outflows, where most upstream ions cross the separatrix and mix with ion outflow already accelerated near the X‐line. High‐speed part of reconnection outflow is mostly located on the magnetosphere side of the magnetopause current layer, with outflow velocities peaking close to the upstream magnetosheath Alfvén speed. The spatial extent of high‐speed outflow is greater in conditions of lower solar wind Alfvén Mach number (MA,sw). Additionally, the southward magnetic field in the magnetosheath and |B| of magnetopause current layer are larger in the cases of lower MA,sw. These findings indicate a close connection of plasma properties between the outflow region of magnetopause reconnection and the upstream magnetosheath.

Establishment and Application of an Interplanetary Disturbance Index Based on the Solar Wind–Magnetosphere Energy Coupling Function and the Spectral Whitening Method

We develop a preliminary interplanetary disturbance index (J sW ) by applying the spectral whitening method to an energy coupling function with solar wind measurements during the years 1998–2014 as the input, which can be used as an indicator of perturbations in the near-Earth solar wind. The correlation and temporal variation between J sW and the geomagnetic disturbance index (J pG ) constructed from the same method have been analyzed in detail for 167 geomagnetic storms with the minimum D st index less than or equal to −50 nT. The time delay between J sW and J pG is clearly observable and varies for different events, according to which J sW is shifted backward with respect to J pG . We obtain a fairly good negative correlation between the shifted J sW and the J pG indices for the majority of events, and the significance level for 88% of the events (i.e., 147 events) does not exceed 0.05. A statistical analysis of the shifted J sW and the J pG indices for 147 selected events reveals that larger values of J sW and smaller magnitudes of J pG are commonly accompanied by enhanced southward magnetic fields, which implies that more solar wind energy is entering the magnetosphere and thus causing strong geomagnetic storms. Furthermore, a linear fit of the two indices suggests that the evolution of J pG can be predicted about 2 hr in advance based on J sW , indicating that J sW can provide early warnings of possible disturbances in the geomagnetic fields, which is crucial for space weather monitoring and operational forecasting.

Quasi-planar ICME sheath: A cause of the first two-step extreme geomagnetic storm of the 25th solar cycle observed on 23 April 2023

Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections (ICMEs) are prominent drivers of space weather disturbances. The reported studies suggested that the planar ICME sheath and planar magnetic clouds (MCs) cause extreme geomagnetic storms. Here, we investigated the first two-step extreme geomagnetic storm (Sym-H∼-231 nT) of 25th solar cycle. Our analysis demonstrates the transformation of ICME sheath into quasi-planar magnetic structures (PMS). The study corroborates our earlier reported finding that the less adiabatic expansion in possible quasi-PMS transformed ICME enhanced the strength of the southward magnetic field component. It contributes to the efficient transfer of plasma and energy in the Earth’s magnetosphere to cause the observed extreme storm. We found that the magnetosphere stand-off distance reduced to <6RE (where RE stands for the Earth’s radius), and it impacts geosynchronous satellites moving close to 6RE.

Multipoint Observations of the Dynamics at an ICME Sheath–Ejecta Boundary

The radial evolution of interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) is dependent on their interaction with the ambient medium, which causes ICME erosion and affects their geoefficiency. Here, an ICME front boundary, which separates the confined ejecta from the mixed, interacted sheath–ejecta plasma upstream, is analyzed in a multipoint study examining the ICME at 1 au on 2020 April 20. A bifurcated current sheet, highly filamented currents, and a two-sided jet were observed at the boundary. The two-sided jet, which was recorded for the first time for a magnetic shear angle <40°, implies multiple (patchy) reconnection sites associated with the ICME erosion. The reconnection exhaust exhibited fine structure, including multistep magnetic field rotation and localized structures that were measured only by separate Cluster spacecraft with the mission inter-spacecraft separation of 0.4–1.6 R E. The mixed plasma upstream of the boundary with a precursor at 0.8 au lacked coherency at 1 au and exhibited substantial variations of southward magnetic fields over radial (transverse) distances of 41–237 R E (114 R E). This incoherence demonstrates the need for continuous (sub)second-resolution plasma and field measurements at multiple locations in the solar wind to adequately address the spatiotemporal structure of ICMEs and to produce accurate space weather predictions.

Comments on “New Insights From the 2003 Halloween Storm Into the Colaba 1600 nT Magnetic Depression During the 1859 Carrington Storm” by S. Ohtani (2022)

AbstractThe Colaba, India ∼−1,600 nT magnetic spike caused by an interplanetary sheath magnetic field inducing a “dayside R1‐field aligned current wedge” during the Carrington magnetic storm proposed by Ohtani (2022), https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JA030596 seems highly improbable. Normal interplanetary magnetic field intensities of ∼5 nT have previously been shown to be sufficient to explain the ∼+120 nT sudden impulse (SI+) observed at Colaba during the storm (Tsurutani et al., 2018, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JA024779). Magnetohydrodynamic theory (Kennel et al., 1985, https://doi.org/10.1029/GM034p0001) predicts a maximum of 4× magnetic field compression by a fast shock, giving an interplanetary sheath field of ∼20 nT, a value too low to support the Ohtani (2022), https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JA030596 hypothesis. The Ohtani (2022), https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JA030596 (and G. Siscoe et al., 2006, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2005.02.102) claim of a further 10× amplification of the interplanetary sheath fields has not been verified in near‐Earth interplanetary sheaths. The original (Tsurutani et al., 2003, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JA009504) hypothesis that an interplanetary coronal mass ejection magnetic cloud (MC) having southward magnetic fields of ∼90 nT caused the Carrington magnetic storm main phase of peak SYM‐H/Dst = −1,760 nT seems more likely. The short time between the SI+ and the storm main phase onset implies a foreshortened interplanetary sheath. The extremely rapid recovery of the magnetic storm was hypothesized by Tsurutani et al. (2018), https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JA024779 as being due to nonlinear ring current losses. We point out that the Hydro‐Quebec 1989 storm was caused by multiple shock‐sheaths and MCs (Lakhina &amp; Tsurutani, 2016, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40562‐016‐0037‐4) unlike the interplanetary causes of the Carrington storm. The Hydro‐Quebec event was a “stealth” magnetic storm.

Ion-Scale Magnetic Flux Rope Generated From Electron-Scale Magnetopause Current Sheet: Magnetospheric Multiscale Observations.

We present in-depth analysis of three southward-moving meso-scale (ion-to magnetohydrodynamic-scale) flux transfer events (FTEs) and subsequent crossing of a reconnecting magnetopause current sheet (MPCS), which were observed on 8 December 2015 by the Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft in the subsolar region under southward and duskward magnetosheath magnetic field conditions. We aim to understand the generation mechanism of ion-scale magnetic flux ropes (ISFRs) and to reveal causal relationship among magnetic field structures, electromagnetic energy conversion, and kinetic processes in magnetic reconnection layers. Results from magnetic field reconstruction methods are consistent with a flux rope with a length of about one ion inertial length growing from an electron-scale current sheet (ECS) in the MPCS, supporting the idea that ISFRs can be generated through secondary reconnection in an ECS. Grad-Shafranov reconstruction applied to the three FTEs shows that the FTEs had axial orientations similar to that of the ISFR. This suggests that these FTEs also formed through the same secondary reconnection process, rather than multiple X-line reconnection at spatially separated locations. Four-spacecraft observations of electron pitch-angle distributions and energy conversion rate suggest that the ISFR had three-dimensional magnetic topology and secondary reconnection was patchy or bursty. Previously reported positive and negative values of , with magnitudes much larger than expected for typical MP reconnection, were seen in both magnetosheath and magnetospheric separatrix regions of the ISFR. Many of them coexisted with bi-directional electron beams and intense electric field fluctuations around the electron gyrofrequency, consistent with their origin in separatrix activities.

Multiscale hybrid modeling of the impact response of the Earth’s magnetotail to ionospheric O+ outflow

Ionospheric outflow plays an important role in coupling the ionosphere with the solar wind-magnetosphere system. Previous multi-fluid MHD studies explored the global influence of oxygen ions of ionospheric origin (O+) on magnetospheric dynamics. A detailed exploration of the interaction of ionospheric ions with the magnetotail requires kinetic treatment for ions. We perform a self-consistent investigation of these processes with a three-dimensional space-time adaptive hybrid code, HYPERS, powered by an intelligent Event-driven Multi-Agent Planning System (EMAPS). By comparing simulations with and without outflow we conclude that oxygen ions, flowing from the ionosphere through the lobes into the tail or directly entering the inner magnetosphere, are able to significantly modify the magnetotail configuration and induce X-points and current sheet structures at locations where magnetic reconnection does not occur in a simulation without outflow, potentially very close to the Earth. This finding may have implications for interpreting substorms and magnetotail reconnection events observed for southward magnetic field simultaneously with significant contents of oxygen ions of ionospheric origin.

The Mercury’s Bow-shock Models Near Perihelion and Aphelion

When Mercury moves in its high-eccentricity orbit around the Sun, the background solar wind conditions are significantly changed. We investigated the effects of heliocentric distance and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) orientation on the shape and location of Mercury’s bow shock. We fit empirical models to the bow shock crossings obtained from the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging magnetometer observations under different conditions. Our results demonstrate that the bow shock moves antiplanetward when Mercury moves from perihelion to aphelion. However, this difference is not as significant as that of magnetopause due to the thickness variation of the magnetosheath. The IMF orientations show a weak influence on the bow shock shape and location, which implies that the southward magnetic field component is not the determinant factor that drives reconnection at the low-β magnetopause of Mercury.

Transient Flashes in Saturn’s UV Aurora: An Analysis of Hubble Space Telescope 2013–2017 Campaigns and Cassini Magnetic Field Measurements

We examined Hubble Space Telescope images of Saturn’s northern UV aurora in 2013–2017, identified 29 short-lived flashes, and examined simultaneous magnetometer data collected by the Cassini orbiter. When observation cadence permitted, a flash lifetime of 4–17 min (subject to exposure time-related uncertainties), and a 40–70 min recurrence period were found. An occurrence map shows a strong preference in both local time (14–19 LT) and latitude (75–85°). These transient flashes are identified in both the presence and absence of Saturn’s main auroral oval, indicating the lack of dependence on the main emission power. The concurrent magnetic field pulsations generally form a sawtooth shape, and the local field strength experiences a change of 0.2 to 2.0 nT (depending on the distance of Cassini). The quasiperiodic pulsation events were all detected when the spacecraft was in the southern hemisphere with conjugate flashes in northern aurora, suggesting these events occur on closed field lines, and typically showing a sudden transition to a less lagging, more southward magnetic field configuration. We also found the ionospheric footprint of the spacecraft must be close to the region of flashes for magnetic field pulsations to be detected, implying a localised rather than global driving process.

What Is Unusual About the Third Largest Geomagnetic Storm of Solar Cycle 24?

AbstractWe report on the solar and interplanetary (IP) causes of the third largest geomagnetic storm (26 August 2018) in solar cycle 24. The underlying coronal mass ejection (CME) originating from a quiescent filament region becomes a 440 km/s magnetic cloud (MC) at 1 au after ∼5 days. The prolonged CME acceleration (for ∼24 hr) coincides with the time profiles of the post‐eruption arcade intensity and reconnected flux. Chen et al. (2019, https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab3f36) obtain a lower speed since they assumed that the CME does not accelerate after ∼12 hr. The presence of multiple coronal holes near the filament channel and the high‐speed wind from them seem to have the combined effect of producing complex rotation in the corona and IP medium resulting in a high‐inclination MC. The Dst time profile in the main phase steepens significantly (rapid increase in storm intensity) coincident with the density increase (prominence material) in the second half of the MC. Simulations using the Comprehensive Inner Magnetosphere‐Ionosphere model show that a higher ring current energy results from larger dynamic pressure (density) in MCs. Furthermore, the Dst index is highly correlated with the main‐phase time integral of the ring current injection that includes density, consistent with the simulations. A complex temporal structure develops in the storm main phase if the underlying MC has a complex density structure during intervals of southward IP magnetic field. We conclude that the high intensity of the storm results from the prolonged CME acceleration, complex rotation of the CME flux rope, and the high density in the 1‐au MC.

Transmission of an ICME Sheath Into the Earth's Magnetosheath and the Occurrence of Traveling Foreshocks

AbstractThe transmission of a sheath region driven by an interplanetary coronal mass ejection into the Earth's magnetosheath is studied by investigating in situ magnetic field measurements upstream and downstream of the bow shock during an ICME sheath passage on 15 May 2005. We observe three distinct intervals in the immediate upstream region that included a southward magnetic field component and are traveling foreshocks. These traveling foreshocks were observed in the quasi‐parallel bow shock that hosted backstreaming ions and magnetic fluctuations at ultralow frequencies. The intervals constituting traveling foreshocks in the upstream survive transmission to the Earth's magnetosheath, where their magnetic field, and particularly the southward component, was significantly amplified. Our results further suggest that the magnetic field fluctuations embedded in an ICME sheath may survive the transmission if their frequency is below ∼0.01 Hz. Although one of the identified intervals was coherent, extending across the ICME sheath and being long‐lived, predicting ICME sheath magnetic fields that may transmit to the Earth's magnetosheath from the upstream at L1 observations has ambiguity. This can result from the strong spatial variability of the ICME sheath fields in the longitudinal direction, or alternatively from the ICME sheath fields developing substantially within the short time it takes the plasma to propagate from L1 to the bow shock. This study demonstrates the complex interplay ICME sheaths have with the Earth's magnetosphere when passing by the planet.

Drift Orbit Bifurcations and Cross‐Field Transport in the Outer Radiation Belt: Global MHD and Integrated Test‐Particle Simulations

AbstractEnergetic particle fluxes in the outer magnetosphere present a significant challenge to modeling efforts as they can vary by orders of magnitude in response to solar wind driving conditions. In this study, we demonstrate the ability to propagate test particles through global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations to a high level of precision and use this to map the cross‐field radial transport associated with relativistic electrons undergoing drift orbit bifurcations (DOBs). The simulations predict DOBs primarily occur within an Earth radius of the magnetopause loss cone and appear significantly different for southward and northward interplanetary magnetic field orientations. The changes to the second invariant are shown to manifest as a dropout in particle fluxes with pitch angles close to and indicate DOBs are a cause of butterfly pitch angle distributions within the night‐time sector. The convective electric field, not included in previous DOB studies, is found to have a significant effect on the resultant long‐term transport, and losses to the magnetopause and atmosphere are identified as a potential method for incorporating DOBs within Fokker‐Planck transport models.

Changes in the Magnetic Field Topology and the Dayside/Nightside Reconnection Rates in Response to a Solar Wind Dynamic Pressure Front: A Case Study

AbstractOne of the most significant observations associated with a sharp enhancement in solar wind dynamic pressure, , is the poleward expansion of the auroral oval and the closing of the polar cap. The polar cap shrinking over a wide range of magnetic local times (MLTs), in connection with an observed increase in ionospheric convection and the transpolar potential, led to the conclusion that the nightside reconnection rate is significantly enhanced after a pressure front impact. However, this enhanced tail reconnection has never been directly measured. We demonstrate the effect of a solar wind dynamic pressure front on the polar cap closure, and for the first time, measure the enhanced reconnection rate in the magnetotail, for a case occurring during southward background Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) conditions. We use Polar Ultra‐Violet Imager (UVI) measurements to detect the location of the open‐closed field line boundary, and combine them with Assimilative Mapping of Ionospheric Electrodynamics (AMIE) potentials to calculate the ionospheric electric field along the polar cap boundary, and thus evaluate the variation of the dayside/nightside reconnection rates. We find a strong response of the polar cap boundary at all available MLTs, exhibiting a significant reduction of the open flux content. We also observe an immediate response of the dayside reconnection rate, plus a phased response, delayed by ∼15–20 min, of the nightside reconnection rate. Finally, we provide comparison of the observations with the results of the Open Geospace General Circulation Model (OpenGGCM), elucidating significant agreements and disagreements.

Electron‐Scale Measurements of Antidipolarization Front

AbstractAntidipolarization fronts (ADFs), usually formed at the leading edge of the tailward reconnection jets in the Earth's magnetotail, are characterized by sharp enhancements of southward magnetic field (negative Bz). The fine structures at electron scale of the ADFs have not been studied so far, due to instrumental limitations and large separation of previous spacecraft. Here, we use the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission to investigate the structure and dynamics of an ADF at electron scale. We find an intense current at the ADF, with the parallel current carried by a fast electron jet and the perpendicular current contributed by ion flow. Strong electric fields are found at the front and balanced by Hall term. The ion current leads to strong energy conversion, transforming the electromagnetic energy into particle energy. Our study makes essential steps toward understanding ADF dynamics in the magnetotail.

Configurations of Earth’s magnetosphere in response to variations in z component Solar-wind flow during the southward IMF

Based on the compressible resistive MHD models, the Earth’s dipole magnetic field is employed to investigate magnetic reconnection driven by the solar wind with southward interplanetary magnetic field. By including the z-component solar wind velocity vswz in a three-dimensional compressible global resistive MHD simulation with uniform resistivity, we found that vswz does not affect the location of magnetic reconnection on the dayside magnetopause in the interaction of southward magnetic field of the solar wind with the Earth’s dipole field. However, significant deviation of the central plasma sheet in the magnetotail from equatorial plane can occur. Detailed study also shows that vswz promotes magnetic reconnection at the dayside magnetopause, and the reconnection rate and deviation of magnetotail current sheet both increase with vswz. In particular, the deviation angle increases linearly with vswz. The results here can be useful for understanding observed substorm behavior in the magnetosphere.

Nascent Flux Rope Observations at Earth's Dayside Magnetopause

AbstractTwo THEMIS satellites, separated by only 0.38 Earth radii (RE), traversed two consecutive dayside magnetopause (MP) current sheets at 3.5 &lt; ZGSM &lt; 3.8 RE on 15 November 2010. An early‐stage crater‐like flux transfer event (FTE) with weakly enhanced total pressure is sampled at the first, complete outbound MP crossing. A mature FTE flux rope is observed just 70 s later across the second, inbound crossing of the MP current sheet. Two counterstreaming magnetosheath ion beams at the interface of two converging reconnection exhausts earthward of the MP current sheet provide direct evidence of two X‐lines across the early‐stage crater FTE. A D‐shaped ion beam observed along the southward magnetic field in the magnetosheath boundary layer and northward exhausts observed earthward of the MP provide evidence of two X‐lines across the mature FTE flux rope. Tripolar out‐of‐plane magnetic field perturbations (ΔBM) of substantial magnitudes were sampled across the MP current sheet in both stages of the FTE flux rope evolution. These dayside observations suggest an association between a tripolar ΔBM perturbation with two magnetic reconnection X‐lines and FTE flux rope formation. A dedicated particle‐in‐cell numerical simulation of magnetic reconnection reproduces similar ion velocity distributions and out‐of‐plane magnetic field perturbations at an asymmetric current sheet as those observed across a nascent flux rope between two X‐lines at the dayside asymmetric MP.

Magnetosheath Microstructure: Mirror Mode Waves and Jets during Southward IP Magnetic Field

AbstractIn the Earth's magnetosheath plasma waves, nonlinear structures associated with characteristic ion populations can occur. Understanding the interaction of the solar wind with the magnetosphere requires a deeper knowledge of the underlying magnetosheath kinetic microstructure. We study a 45 min interval when the MMS spacecraft observed a southward magnetic field (Bz &lt; 0 nT) in the dayside magnetosheath. Using magnetic field and plasma data, we analyze three transient dynamic pressure enhancements identified as magnetosheath jets. The characteristics of these jets are different, suggesting different origins. While two of them, called J1 and J2, exhibit large increment in velocity and almost no density increment, the third jet (J3) shows large density enhancements with almost no velocity increment. The duration of J3 is ∼7 times longer than those of J1 and J2. J3 occurs at the region where the negative Bz becomes positive. Ion distributions inside the jets are different. J1 and J2 show a secondary field‐aligned beam, which is not present in J3, suggesting that magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause is responsible for their formation. Distributions inside J3 are more isotropic. B field and plasma signatures inside J3 correspond to the crossing of a sector boundary, similar to the heliospheric plasma sheet, suggesting that J3 forms by the evolution and interaction of a solar wind structure with the bow shock and magnetosheath. Fluctuations inside J3 have larger transverse components, although they propagate at large angles to B. In contrast, waves in regions between the jets are compressive and are identified as mirror mode waves.