Foreshock and magnetosheath transients, origin and connection to the magnetopause.

Abstract:

The solar wind interaction with earths’s magnetosphere begins well ahead of the magnetopause when the solar wind encounters the foreshock, bow shock and magnetosheath. In these regions a variety of waves and magnetic structures exist and modify the solar wind. The foreshock is permeated by a variety of ultra low frequency (ULF) waves and magnetic transient structures such as shocklets, SLAMs, and cavitons. These structures are very compressive and are generated by the solar wind interaction with backstreaming particles plus non linear processes. Other structures such as hot flow anomalies (HFA), and spontaneous hot flow anomalies (SHFA) can also exist in the foreshock. HFAs are generated by discontinuities that arrive to the bow shock. Recent studies show that SHFA have the same profiles as HFA, but form by the interaction of foreshock cavitons with the bowshock. Foreshock bubbles can form when energetic ions upstream of the quasi-parallel bow shock interact with rotational discontinuities in the solar wind. All these structures can merge with the bow shock and be convected into the magnetosheath. The magnetosheath is both a place for rich plasma physical processes and a filter between solar wind and the magnetospheric plasma and magnetic field environments. It is permeated by the superposition of upstream convected structures plus locally generated waves (ion cyclotron and mirror mode). Recent studies have shown that jets and magnetosheath filamentary structures (MFS) can be observed downstream from the bow shock. Jets are associated to shock rippling efects and MFS to acceleration of particles at and near the shock. Due to the presence of the foreshock, bow shock and magnetosheath transients, the solar wind arriving to the magnetopause is very different to the pristine solar wind. In this talk we will address the main characteristics of these transients, discuss their origin, and how they can modify the solar wind, the bow shock, the magnetosheath and the magnetopause.