Reconstruction of the magnetopause and low-latitude boundary layer topology using Cluster multi-point measurements

Abstract

Abstract. Multi-spacecraft data from Cluster allow for a more detailed magnetopause and boundary layer structure determination than ever before. Reconstruction methods, in which the time variability observed during a pass is interpreted as being due to boundary motion and/or spatial structure, are particularly well suited for this task. Such methods rely on the availability of plasma and field data and adopt the tangential discontinuity hypothesis to determine the motion, acceleration, boundary structure, boundary curvature and surface wave speed over an extended time interval. In this paper one- and two-dimensional reconstruction methods are applied to multi-spacecraft data for the first time.