High Resolution Magnetotail Simulations of Bursty Bulk Flows

We present the results of high resolution resistive MHD simulations of bursty bulk flows using the BATSRUS magnetosphere model. We performed a number of runs with three levels of constant resistivity. For each resistivity level, we studied the dependence on tail resolution and looked for solutions where numerical resistivity was small compared to the set physical resistivity. For constant solar wind driving (southward Bz IMF), we found the formation of bursty bulk flows (BBFs) and dipolarization fronts when the resistivity was below a critical value. We extracted virtual s/c data through dipolarization fronts and BBFs and compared with observed properties of BBFs. We also studied the ionospheric response to BBF formation. By switching on/off the ring current module (CRCM) in the BATSRUS, we examined relationship between BBFs and ring current injections.