MAGNETOPAUSE NORMALS AND DISTANCE DETERMINATION
The Cluster mission provides an outstanding opportunity to test and improve
methods for evaluating the magnetopause orientation and motion, through
combining both single- and multi-satellite techniques. For tangential
discontinuities, one can test the deduced magnetopause normal by integrating
the normal velocity component between magnetopause crossings. For a stable
magnetopause normal the integrated distance after an initial crossing should
return to zero at a subsequent crossing. This is illustrated by the green
line in the "Distance" panel, which is the integrated normal component of
velocity measured by EDI, referenced to zero at the initial magnetopause
crossing marked by the dashed line at 6:58. The magnetopause "distance"
returns to zero very close to the next crossing at 7:25.
Last modified: Thu Mar 25 13:29:10 EST 2004