Dawn-dusk asymmetries of the Earth's dayside magnetosheath in the Magnetosheath InterPlanetary Medium reference frame

Andrew Dimmock, Katariina Nykyri, Adnane Osmane, Homa Karimabadi, Tuija Pulkkinen

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterScientificpeer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Both the local and global magnetosheath plasma parameters regulate the efficiency of processes that dictate the plasma transport across the magnetopause. Previous articles in the form of observational data, magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations, kinetic simulations, and theoretical studies have demonstrated convincingly that the plasma properties in the magnetosheath are asymmetric between the dawn and dusk flanks. This chapter focuses explicitly on quantifying these dawn‐dusk asymmetries for a variety of solar wind conditions and sheds some light on the impact they may have on plasma entry into the magnetosphere. Using THEMIS data, global MHD, and kinetic hybrid simulations, we show that the magnetic field strength, plasma flow speed, temperature anisotropy, and mirror mode occurrence favor the dusk‐flank. On the other hand, ion number density, ion temperature, and plasma turbulence favor the dawn side. We show that some asymmetries depend strongly on solar wind speed (e.g., temperature) IMF orientation (e.g., turbulence), whereas others exhibit no clear dependency (e.g., plasma speed) on conditions we tested. We discuss the impact from these asymmetries on viscous processes at the magnetopause, such as the Kelvin‐Helmholtz instability, and relate this to plasma transport across the magnetopause. We also put our results into context with existing literature on magnetosheath dawn‐dusk asymmetries.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationDawn-Dusk Asymmetries in Planetary Plasma Environments
EditorsStein Haaland, Andrei Runov, Colin Forsyth
PublisherAmerican Geophysical Union
Pages49-72
ISBN (Print)978-1-119-21632-2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2017
MoE publication typeA3 Book section, Chapters in research books

Publication series

NameAGU Geophysical Monograph Series
PublisherAmerican Geophysical Union

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