Comparison of an ARTEMIS lunar wake fly-by with a 1-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation

On February 13, 2010, the ARTEMIS P1 spacecraft flew through the lunar wake at approximately 3.5 lunar radii downstream from the Moon. Detailed measurements were made of the plasma and electromagnetic field environment, including a density depletion in the wake, counter-streaming ion beams, and electrostatic wave activity. Additionally, the combination of a tilted interplanetary magnetic field orientation and an asymmetric solar wind electron distribution caused a resulting spatial asymmetry in the generation of electron beams and electrostatic waves [Halekas et al, SSR, 2011]. Here, we simulate the ARTEMIS P1 wake crossing with a one-dimensional, electrostatic particle-in-cell code in order to (1) reproduce the general characteristics of the lunar wake fly-by, (2) include the effect of the asymmetric nature of the interplanetary magnetic field and electron distribution, and (3) study the effect of these asymmetries on the generation of electron beams and electrostatic waves.