Deriving the Magnetopause Position from the Soft X-Ray Image by Using the Tangent Fitting Approach
Abstract
Imaging is one of the essential techniques to observe astronomical structures. While analyzing the observed images, it is a challenge in many scientific fields to reconstruct the 3-D structures from 2-D image(s). This report discusses this challenge in the context of reconstructing the structure of the Earth's magnetosphere from the X-ray image and presents a new technique. Specifically, it finds the optimum match of tangent directions derived from the X-ray image and the parameterized magnetopause function. We name this approach as the tangent fitting approach (TFA). TFA is further validated based on the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the X-ray images with different viewing geometries. TFA enables the reconstruction of the large-scale magnetopause from a single X-ray image, applicable to time-dependent situations such as cases during magnetic storms. It is also noted that TFA has a potential broader application to remote sensing data, for instance, energetic neutral atom (ENA) observations. Lastly, this new approach is compared with other magnetopause reconstruction approaches.
- Publication:
-
Journal of Geophysical Research (Space Physics)
- Pub Date:
- September 2020
- DOI:
- 10.1029/2020JA028169
- Bibcode:
- 2020JGRA..12528169S
- Keywords:
-
- magnetopause;
- SMILE;
- X-ray imaging;
- MHD simulation;
- reconstruction