Solar Wind Control of the Tail Lobe Magnetic Field Based on ISEE-1/2 and IMP-8 Data.

摘要

Plasma data from the ISEE-1 and -2 spacecraft during 1977-1980 have been used to determine the distribution of data points in the magnetotail in the range of distances -20 < X(sub GSM) < -15, i.e. which of the records that were located in the current sheet, in the tail lobe, in the magnetosheath and in the boundary layers respectively. The ISEE-1 and -2 magnetic field data for the records in the tail lobe were then used to model the tail lobe magnetic field dependence on the solar wind dynamic pressure, on the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) and on the Dst index. The tail lobe magnetic field was assumed to be dependent on the square root of the dynamic pressure based on the balance between the total magnetic pressure in the tail lobes and the dynamic pressure of the solar wind. The IMF dependent terms, added to the pressure term, were sought in many different forms while the Dst dependence of the tail lobe magnetic field was assumed to be linear.