Variability in the location and shape of the dayside magnetopause is attributed to magnetic reconnection,a fundamental process that enables the transfer of mass,energy,and momentum from the solar wind into the magneto...Variability in the location and shape of the dayside magnetopause is attributed to magnetic reconnection,a fundamental process that enables the transfer of mass,energy,and momentum from the solar wind into the magnetosphere.The spatial and temporal properties of the magnetopause,under varying solar and magnetospheric conditions,remain largely unknown because empirical studies using in-situ observations are challenging to interpret.Global wide field-of-view(FOV)imaging is the only means to simultaneously observe the spatial distribution of the plasma properties over the vast dayside magnetospheric region and,subsequently,quantify the energy transport from the interplanetary medium into the terrestrial magnetosphere.Two upcoming missions,ESA/CAS SMILE and NASA’s LEXI will provide wide-field imagery of the dayside magnetosheath in soft X-rays,an emission generated by charge exchange interactions between high charge-state heavy ions of solar wind origin and exospheric neutral atoms.High-cadence two-dimensional observations of the magnetosheath will allow the estimation of dynamic properties of its inner boundary,the magnetopause,and enable studies of its response to changes in the solar wind dynamic pressure and interplanetary magnetic field orientation.This work introduces a statistically-based estimation approach based on inverse theory to estimate the spatial distribution of magnetosheath soft X-ray emissivities and,with this,identify the location of the magnetopause over the Sun−Earth line.To do so,we simulate the magnetosheath structure using the MHD-based OpenGGCM model and generate synthetic soft X-ray images using LEXI’s orbit and attitude information.Our results show that 3-D estimations using the described statistically-based technique are robust against Poisson-distributed shot noise inherent to soft X-ray images.Also,our proposed methodology shows that the accuracy of both three-dimensional(3-D)estimation and the magnetopause standoff distance calculation highly depends on the observational point.展开更多
Lunar Environment heliospheric X-ray Imager(LEXI)and Solar wind−Magnetosphere−Ionosphere Link Explorer(SMILE)will observe magnetosheath and its boundary motion in soft X-rays for understanding magnetopause reconnectio...Lunar Environment heliospheric X-ray Imager(LEXI)and Solar wind−Magnetosphere−Ionosphere Link Explorer(SMILE)will observe magnetosheath and its boundary motion in soft X-rays for understanding magnetopause reconnection modes under various solar wind conditions after their respective launches in 2024 and 2025.Magnetosheath conditions,namely,plasma density,velocity,and temperature,are key parameters for predicting and analyzing soft X-ray images from the LEXI and SMILE missions.We developed a userfriendly model of magnetosheath that parameterizes number density,velocity,temperature,and magnetic field by utilizing the global Magnetohydrodynamics(MHD)model as well as the pre-existing gas-dynamic and analytic models.Using this parameterized magnetosheath model,scientists can easily reconstruct expected soft X-ray images and utilize them for analysis of observed images of LEXI and SMILE without simulating the complicated global magnetosphere models.First,we created an MHD-based magnetosheath model by running a total of 14 OpenGGCM global MHD simulations under 7 solar wind densities(1,5,10,15,20,25,and 30 cm)and 2 interplanetary magnetic field Bz components(±4 nT),and then parameterizing the results in new magnetosheath conditions.We compared the magnetosheath model result with THEMIS statistical data and it showed good agreement with a weighted Pearson correlation coefficient greater than 0.77,especially for plasma density and plasma velocity.Second,we compiled a suite of magnetosheath models incorporating previous magnetosheath models(gas-dynamic,analytic),and did two case studies to test the performance.The MHD-based model was comparable to or better than the previous models while providing self-consistency among the magnetosheath parameters.Third,we constructed a tool to calculate a soft X-ray image from any given vantage point,which can support the planning and data analysis of the aforementioned LEXI and SMILE missions.A release of the code has been uploaded to a Github repository.展开更多
The SMILE(Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer)project(http://www.nssc.cas.cn/smile/,https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/smile/mission)is a joint spacecraft mission of the European Space Agency(ESA)and the Chi...The SMILE(Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer)project(http://www.nssc.cas.cn/smile/,https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/smile/mission)is a joint spacecraft mission of the European Space Agency(ESA)and the Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS)with an expected launch in 2025.SMILE aims to study the global interactions of solar wind–magnetosphere–ionosphere innovatively by imaging the Earth’s magnetosheath and cusps in soft X-rays and the northern auroral region in ultraviolet(UV)while simultaneously measuring plasma and magnetic field parameters in the solar wind and magnetosheath along a highly-elliptical and highly-inclined orbit.This special issue is composed of 22 articles,presenting recent progress in modeling and data analysis techniques developed for the SMILE mission.In this preface,we categorize the articles into the following seven topics and provide brief summaries:(1)instrument descriptions of the Soft X-ray Imager(SXI),(2)numerical modeling of the X-ray signals,(3)data processing of the X-ray images,(4)boundary tracing methods from the simulated images,(5)physical phenomena and a mission concept related to the scientific goals of SMILE-SXI,(6)studies of the aurora,and(7)ground-based support for SMILE.展开更多
基金supported by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center through Cooperative Agreement 80NSSC21M0180 to Catholic UniversityPartnership for Heliophysics and Space Environment Research(PHaSER)+2 种基金the NASA Heliophysics United States Participating Investigator Program under Grant WBS516741.01.24.01.03(DS)support from the NASA grants 80NSSC19K0844,80NSSC20K1670,and 80MSFC20C0019the NASA GSFC internal fundings(HIF,ISFM,and IRAD)。
文摘Variability in the location and shape of the dayside magnetopause is attributed to magnetic reconnection,a fundamental process that enables the transfer of mass,energy,and momentum from the solar wind into the magnetosphere.The spatial and temporal properties of the magnetopause,under varying solar and magnetospheric conditions,remain largely unknown because empirical studies using in-situ observations are challenging to interpret.Global wide field-of-view(FOV)imaging is the only means to simultaneously observe the spatial distribution of the plasma properties over the vast dayside magnetospheric region and,subsequently,quantify the energy transport from the interplanetary medium into the terrestrial magnetosphere.Two upcoming missions,ESA/CAS SMILE and NASA’s LEXI will provide wide-field imagery of the dayside magnetosheath in soft X-rays,an emission generated by charge exchange interactions between high charge-state heavy ions of solar wind origin and exospheric neutral atoms.High-cadence two-dimensional observations of the magnetosheath will allow the estimation of dynamic properties of its inner boundary,the magnetopause,and enable studies of its response to changes in the solar wind dynamic pressure and interplanetary magnetic field orientation.This work introduces a statistically-based estimation approach based on inverse theory to estimate the spatial distribution of magnetosheath soft X-ray emissivities and,with this,identify the location of the magnetopause over the Sun−Earth line.To do so,we simulate the magnetosheath structure using the MHD-based OpenGGCM model and generate synthetic soft X-ray images using LEXI’s orbit and attitude information.Our results show that 3-D estimations using the described statistically-based technique are robust against Poisson-distributed shot noise inherent to soft X-ray images.Also,our proposed methodology shows that the accuracy of both three-dimensional(3-D)estimation and the magnetopause standoff distance calculation highly depends on the observational point.
基金supported by the NSF grant AGS-1928883the NASA grants,80NSSC20K1670 and 80MSFC20C0019+2 种基金support from NASA GSFC IRADHIFISFM funds。
文摘Lunar Environment heliospheric X-ray Imager(LEXI)and Solar wind−Magnetosphere−Ionosphere Link Explorer(SMILE)will observe magnetosheath and its boundary motion in soft X-rays for understanding magnetopause reconnection modes under various solar wind conditions after their respective launches in 2024 and 2025.Magnetosheath conditions,namely,plasma density,velocity,and temperature,are key parameters for predicting and analyzing soft X-ray images from the LEXI and SMILE missions.We developed a userfriendly model of magnetosheath that parameterizes number density,velocity,temperature,and magnetic field by utilizing the global Magnetohydrodynamics(MHD)model as well as the pre-existing gas-dynamic and analytic models.Using this parameterized magnetosheath model,scientists can easily reconstruct expected soft X-ray images and utilize them for analysis of observed images of LEXI and SMILE without simulating the complicated global magnetosphere models.First,we created an MHD-based magnetosheath model by running a total of 14 OpenGGCM global MHD simulations under 7 solar wind densities(1,5,10,15,20,25,and 30 cm)and 2 interplanetary magnetic field Bz components(±4 nT),and then parameterizing the results in new magnetosheath conditions.We compared the magnetosheath model result with THEMIS statistical data and it showed good agreement with a weighted Pearson correlation coefficient greater than 0.77,especially for plasma density and plasma velocity.Second,we compiled a suite of magnetosheath models incorporating previous magnetosheath models(gas-dynamic,analytic),and did two case studies to test the performance.The MHD-based model was comparable to or better than the previous models while providing self-consistency among the magnetosheath parameters.Third,we constructed a tool to calculate a soft X-ray image from any given vantage point,which can support the planning and data analysis of the aforementioned LEXI and SMILE missions.A release of the code has been uploaded to a Github repository.
基金Sun acknowledges the support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China through grants(No.s 42322408,42188101,and 42074202).
文摘The SMILE(Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer)project(http://www.nssc.cas.cn/smile/,https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/smile/mission)is a joint spacecraft mission of the European Space Agency(ESA)and the Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS)with an expected launch in 2025.SMILE aims to study the global interactions of solar wind–magnetosphere–ionosphere innovatively by imaging the Earth’s magnetosheath and cusps in soft X-rays and the northern auroral region in ultraviolet(UV)while simultaneously measuring plasma and magnetic field parameters in the solar wind and magnetosheath along a highly-elliptical and highly-inclined orbit.This special issue is composed of 22 articles,presenting recent progress in modeling and data analysis techniques developed for the SMILE mission.In this preface,we categorize the articles into the following seven topics and provide brief summaries:(1)instrument descriptions of the Soft X-ray Imager(SXI),(2)numerical modeling of the X-ray signals,(3)data processing of the X-ray images,(4)boundary tracing methods from the simulated images,(5)physical phenomena and a mission concept related to the scientific goals of SMILE-SXI,(6)studies of the aurora,and(7)ground-based support for SMILE.
