Solar Wind Driving of Magnetospheric ULF Waves: Pulsations Driven by Velocity Shear at the Magnetopause

TL;DR

This study uses 3D MHD simulations to investigate how shear instabilities at the magnetopause driven by solar wind velocity cause ULF pulsations and boundary layer oscillations in Earth's magnetosphere.

Contribution

The paper demonstrates that Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities at the magnetopause generate specific surface waves and coupled oscillations, advancing understanding of magnetospheric ULF wave generation mechanisms.

Findings

KH waves are generated at the magnetopause flanks.

Two KH modes are identified: magnetopause and inner KH modes.

KH waves are monochromatic with specific wavelengths and phase velocities.

Abstract

We present results from global, three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the solar wind/magnetosphere interaction. These MHD simulations are used to study ultra low frequency (ULF) pulsations in the Earth's magnetosphere driven by shear instabilities at the flanks of the magnetopause. We drive the simulations with idealized, constant solar wind input parameters, ensuring that any discrete ULF pulsations generated in the simulation magnetosphere are not due to fluctuations in the solar wind. The simulations presented in this study are driven by purely southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) conditions, changing only the solar wind driving velocity while holding all of the other solar wind input parameters constant. We find surface waves near the dawn and dusk flank magnetopause and show that these waves are generated by the Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability. We also find that two KH modes are generated near the magnetopause boundary. One mode, the magnetopause KH mode, propagates tailward along the magnetopause boundary. The other mode, the inner KH mode, propagates tailward along the inner edge of the boundary layer (IEBL). We find large vortical structures associated with the inner KH mode that are centered on the IEBL. The phase velocities, wavelengths, and frequencies of the two KH modes are computed. The KH waves are found to be fairly monochromatic with well defined wavelengths. In addition, the inner and magnetopause KH modes are coupled and lead to a coupled oscillation of the low-latitude boundary layer. The boundary layer thickness, $d$, is computed and we find maximum wave growth for $kd$ = 0.5--1.0, where $k$ is the wave number, consistent with the linear theory of the KH instability. We comment briefly on the effectiveness of these KH waves in the energization and transport of radiation belt electrons.