Optimal reconstruction of magnetopause structures from Cluster data

Optimal reconstruction of magnetopause structures from Cluster data

The Grad-Shafranov (GS) reconstruction technique, a single-spacecraft based data analysis method for recovering approximately two-dimensional (2-D) magnetohydrostatic plasma/field structures in space, is improved to become a multi-spacecraft technique that produces a single field map by ingesting data from all four Cluster spacecraft into the calculation. The plasma pressure, required for the t...

Reconstruction of two-dimensional magnetopause structures from Cluster observations: verification of method

A recently developed technique for reconstructing approximately two-dimensional (∂/∂z≈0), timestationary magnetic field structures in space is applied to two magnetopause traversals on the dawnside flank by the four Cluster spacecraft, when the spacecraft separation was about 2000 km. The method consists of solving the GradShafranov equation for magnetohydrostatic structures, using plasma and m...

Image Reconstruction from Incomplete Data

Image Reconstruction from Incomplete Data

Magnetopause current as seen by Cluster

The four-spacecraft, magnetic field measurements on Cluster can be combined to produce an accurate determination of the electric current in the magnetopause boundary during stable magnetopause crossings. For events that are planar on the scale of the spacecraft configuration, the thickness of the current layer can be accurately estimated from its magnetic profile at each spacecraft and the corr...