Magnetic Field in the Earth's Magnetosheath: Models Versus Observations

Abstract

Magnetic field measurements in the Earth's magnetosheath are compared with four analytical models, namely Kobel and Flückiger (1994), (https://doi.org/10.1029/94ja01778), Romashets and Vandas (2019), (https://doi.org/10.1029/2018ja026006), Vandas and Romashets (2019), (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2019.07.007), and Romashets et al. (2010), (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2010.10.010). The bow shock and the magnetopause are modeled as paraboloids in all models except that of Vandas and Romashets (2019), (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2019.07.007), in which they are assumed to be spheroids. 34 magnetosheath crossings by spacecraft are analyzed in detail and it is concluded that the model by Kobel and Flückiger (1994), (https://doi.org/10.1029/94ja01778) performs the best.