Observational Evidence for the Modulation of Magnetopause Position by Solar Wind Turbulence
It has long been known that magnetopause position is primarily controlled by the solar wind dynamic pressure and the interplanetary magnetic field. This classical view, however, largely overlooks the ubiquitous role of solar wind turbulence. Consequently, it remains unclear which turbulent propertie...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/adf7a6 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849224681642524672 |
|---|---|
| author | Yaxin Gu Yi Wang Fengsi Wei Xueshang Feng Boyi Wang Ludi Wang Wenyu Zhang Zekun Xu Zhuowei Chen Yunxiang Lu Xiaojian Song Pingbing Zuo Xiaojun Xu Zilu Zhou |
| author_facet | Yaxin Gu Yi Wang Fengsi Wei Xueshang Feng Boyi Wang Ludi Wang Wenyu Zhang Zekun Xu Zhuowei Chen Yunxiang Lu Xiaojian Song Pingbing Zuo Xiaojun Xu Zilu Zhou |
| author_sort | Yaxin Gu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | It has long been known that magnetopause position is primarily controlled by the solar wind dynamic pressure and the interplanetary magnetic field. This classical view, however, largely overlooks the ubiquitous role of solar wind turbulence. Consequently, it remains unclear which turbulent properties most effectively modulate the magnetopause position, on what characteristic scales these effects are most pronounced, and how these turbulence-driven effects are physically mediated. Employing a quasi-controlled-variable approach and excluding dominant disturbances, we perform the first direct statistical investigation by selecting 45 magnetopause crossing events (from 38,018 total between 2007 and 2022) under nearly identical background conditions, isolating the effects of turbulence characterized by its spectral properties, partial variance of increments, and the local energy transfer rate. The analysis, further validated by Cohen’s d effect sizes, reveals that turbulence could modulate the magnetopause position: intervals with flatter plasma spectra in the inertial range, higher incidence of intermittent structures (particularly at ∼47 s), and more intense energy transfer rates (particularly at ∼6 minutes) correlate with a more distant, outward-shifted boundary. These results tend to suggest that highly turbulent solar wind could enhance energy and momentum transfer into the magnetosphere, likely via a combination of viscous-like interactions, localized heating at intermittent structures, and resonant Alfvénic fluctuations, causing the outer magnetosphere to heat and expand. This work provides the first observational quantification of this fundamental coupling, which may offer crucial benchmarks for numerical simulations and new avenues for theoretical research. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d03cebfffb0a4060b0f94136b89bd2fb |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-8205 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-d03cebfffb0a4060b0f94136b89bd2fb2025-08-25T07:32:39ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal Letters2041-82052025-01-019901L410.3847/2041-8213/adf7a6Observational Evidence for the Modulation of Magnetopause Position by Solar Wind TurbulenceYaxin Gu0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1579-8292Yi Wang1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7094-9794Fengsi Wei2Xueshang Feng3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8605-2159Boyi Wang4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7904-1846Ludi Wang5Wenyu Zhang6Zekun Xu7Zhuowei Chen8Yunxiang Lu9Xiaojian Song10https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7723-5743Pingbing Zuo11https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4711-0306Xiaojun Xu12https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2309-0649Zilu Zhou13https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4463-8407State Key Laboratory of Solar Activity and Space Weather, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China ; wingwy@mail.ustc.edu.cn, wy@hit.edu.cn; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Numerical Prediction for Space Storm, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Solar Activity and Space Weather, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China ; wingwy@mail.ustc.edu.cn, wy@hit.edu.cn; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Numerical Prediction for Space Storm, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Solar Activity and Space Weather, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China ; wingwy@mail.ustc.edu.cn, wy@hit.edu.cn; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Numerical Prediction for Space Storm, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Solar Activity and Space Weather, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China ; wingwy@mail.ustc.edu.cn, wy@hit.edu.cn; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Numerical Prediction for Space Storm, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Solar Activity and Space Weather, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China ; wingwy@mail.ustc.edu.cn, wy@hit.edu.cn; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Numerical Prediction for Space Storm, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Solar Activity and Space Weather, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China ; wingwy@mail.ustc.edu.cn, wy@hit.edu.cn; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Numerical Prediction for Space Storm, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Solar Activity and Space Weather, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China ; wingwy@mail.ustc.edu.cn, wy@hit.edu.cn; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Numerical Prediction for Space Storm, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Solar Activity and Space Weather, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China ; wingwy@mail.ustc.edu.cn, wy@hit.edu.cn; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Numerical Prediction for Space Storm, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Solar Activity and Space Weather, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China ; wingwy@mail.ustc.edu.cn, wy@hit.edu.cn; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Numerical Prediction for Space Storm, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Solar Activity and Space Weather, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China ; wingwy@mail.ustc.edu.cn, wy@hit.edu.cn; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Numerical Prediction for Space Storm, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen, People’s Republic of ChinaShandong High Technology Research , Shandong, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Solar Activity and Space Weather, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China ; wingwy@mail.ustc.edu.cn, wy@hit.edu.cn; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Numerical Prediction for Space Storm, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Lunar and Planetary Sciences, Macau University of Science and Technology , Macau, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Lunar and Planetary Sciences, Macau University of Science and Technology , Macau, People’s Republic of ChinaIt has long been known that magnetopause position is primarily controlled by the solar wind dynamic pressure and the interplanetary magnetic field. This classical view, however, largely overlooks the ubiquitous role of solar wind turbulence. Consequently, it remains unclear which turbulent properties most effectively modulate the magnetopause position, on what characteristic scales these effects are most pronounced, and how these turbulence-driven effects are physically mediated. Employing a quasi-controlled-variable approach and excluding dominant disturbances, we perform the first direct statistical investigation by selecting 45 magnetopause crossing events (from 38,018 total between 2007 and 2022) under nearly identical background conditions, isolating the effects of turbulence characterized by its spectral properties, partial variance of increments, and the local energy transfer rate. The analysis, further validated by Cohen’s d effect sizes, reveals that turbulence could modulate the magnetopause position: intervals with flatter plasma spectra in the inertial range, higher incidence of intermittent structures (particularly at ∼47 s), and more intense energy transfer rates (particularly at ∼6 minutes) correlate with a more distant, outward-shifted boundary. These results tend to suggest that highly turbulent solar wind could enhance energy and momentum transfer into the magnetosphere, likely via a combination of viscous-like interactions, localized heating at intermittent structures, and resonant Alfvénic fluctuations, causing the outer magnetosphere to heat and expand. This work provides the first observational quantification of this fundamental coupling, which may offer crucial benchmarks for numerical simulations and new avenues for theoretical research.https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/adf7a6Solar windInterplanetary turbulenceSolar-planetary interactionsPlanetary magnetospheres |
| spellingShingle | Yaxin Gu Yi Wang Fengsi Wei Xueshang Feng Boyi Wang Ludi Wang Wenyu Zhang Zekun Xu Zhuowei Chen Yunxiang Lu Xiaojian Song Pingbing Zuo Xiaojun Xu Zilu Zhou Observational Evidence for the Modulation of Magnetopause Position by Solar Wind Turbulence The Astrophysical Journal Letters Solar wind Interplanetary turbulence Solar-planetary interactions Planetary magnetospheres |
| title | Observational Evidence for the Modulation of Magnetopause Position by Solar Wind Turbulence |
| title_full | Observational Evidence for the Modulation of Magnetopause Position by Solar Wind Turbulence |
| title_fullStr | Observational Evidence for the Modulation of Magnetopause Position by Solar Wind Turbulence |
| title_full_unstemmed | Observational Evidence for the Modulation of Magnetopause Position by Solar Wind Turbulence |
| title_short | Observational Evidence for the Modulation of Magnetopause Position by Solar Wind Turbulence |
| title_sort | observational evidence for the modulation of magnetopause position by solar wind turbulence |
| topic | Solar wind Interplanetary turbulence Solar-planetary interactions Planetary magnetospheres |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/adf7a6 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yaxingu observationalevidenceforthemodulationofmagnetopausepositionbysolarwindturbulence AT yiwang observationalevidenceforthemodulationofmagnetopausepositionbysolarwindturbulence AT fengsiwei observationalevidenceforthemodulationofmagnetopausepositionbysolarwindturbulence AT xueshangfeng observationalevidenceforthemodulationofmagnetopausepositionbysolarwindturbulence AT boyiwang observationalevidenceforthemodulationofmagnetopausepositionbysolarwindturbulence AT ludiwang observationalevidenceforthemodulationofmagnetopausepositionbysolarwindturbulence AT wenyuzhang observationalevidenceforthemodulationofmagnetopausepositionbysolarwindturbulence AT zekunxu observationalevidenceforthemodulationofmagnetopausepositionbysolarwindturbulence AT zhuoweichen observationalevidenceforthemodulationofmagnetopausepositionbysolarwindturbulence AT yunxianglu observationalevidenceforthemodulationofmagnetopausepositionbysolarwindturbulence AT xiaojiansong observationalevidenceforthemodulationofmagnetopausepositionbysolarwindturbulence AT pingbingzuo observationalevidenceforthemodulationofmagnetopausepositionbysolarwindturbulence AT xiaojunxu observationalevidenceforthemodulationofmagnetopausepositionbysolarwindturbulence AT ziluzhou observationalevidenceforthemodulationofmagnetopausepositionbysolarwindturbulence |