The Dependence of the Width of the Magnetosheath on Upstream Solar Wind Conditions

The magnetosheath plays a central role in modulating the flow of mass, energy, and momentum from the interplanetary medium into the magnetosphere. Yet, the spatial and temporal properties of the magnetosheath under varying solar wind and possibly magnetospheric conditions remain largely unknown because empirical studies using in-situ observations are extremely challenging given the dynamic nature of the magnetosheath and its boundaries. Despite these challenges, global imaging of the spatial distribution of plasma properties in the magnetosheath is essential for determining energy transport into the magnetosphere. Soft X-ray imaging can provide the structure and plasma properties of the extended region beyond the magnetopause that imposes the outer boundary condition for the magnetosphere, the global magnetosheath [Sibeck et al. (2018), SSR, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-018-0504-7]. We perform CCMC simulations to explore how the width of the subsolar magnetosheath varies with upstream solar wind parameters.