Statistical study of linear magnetic hole structures near Earth

Martin Volwerk*, David Mautner, Cyril Simon Wedlund, Charlotte Goetz, Ferdinand Plaschke, Tomas Karlsson, Daniel Schmid, Diana Rojas-Castillo, Owen W. Roberts, Ali Varsani

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Citations (Scopus)
9 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The Magnetospheric Multiscale mission (MMS1) data for 8 months in the winter periods of 2017-2018 and 2018-2019, when MMS had its apogee in the upstream solar wind of the Earth's bow shock, are used to study linear magnetic holes (LMHs). These LMHs are characterized by a magnetic depression of more than 50 % and a rotation of the background magnetic field of less then <span classCombining double low line"inline-formula">10g </span>. A total of 406 LMHs are found and, based on their magnetoplasma characteristics, are split into three categories: cold (increase in density, little change in ion temperature), hot (increase in ion temperature, decrease in density) and sign change (at least one magnetic field component changes sign). The occurrence rate of LMHs is 2.3 per day. All LMHs are basically in pressure balance with the ambient plasma. Most of the linear magnetic holes are found in ambient plasmas that are stable against the mirror-mode generation, but only half of the holes are mirror-mode-stable inside.

Original languageEnglish
Article number239
Pages (from-to)239-253
Number of pages15
JournalAnnales Geophysicae
Volume39
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 25 Feb 2021
Externally publishedYes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Statistical study of linear magnetic hole structures near Earth'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this