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Quantifying the Uncertainty of Using Solar Wind Measurements for Geospace Inputs
Author(s) -
Walsh B. M.,
Bhakyapaibul T.,
Zou Y.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9402
pISSN - 2169-9380
DOI - 10.1029/2019ja026507
Subject(s) - magnetosheath , solar wind , spacecraft , physics , foreshock , bow shock (aerodynamics) , magnetopause , space environment , position (finance) , space weather , coronal mass ejection , geophysics , geodesy , remote sensing , meteorology , aerospace engineering , computational physics , plasma , geology , astronomy , mechanics , shock wave , engineering , finance , quantum mechanics , seismology , aftershock , economics
Predictive models for the Earth's space environment routinely use parameters from the solar wind as inputs. Measurements from spacecraft orbiting the first Lagrange point serve as convenient values for these inputs. The mass, momentum, and energy input into the Earth's space environment, however, are a function of the shocked and processed plasma within the magnetosheath, which can vary significantly from the pristine solar wind at the first Lagrange point. Here statistical measurements from the OMNI data set are combined with measurements by the THEMIS mission within the magnetosheath to generate uncertainty values for pressure and magnetic clock angle. These uncertainties are generated to account for known physical processes in the foreshock and magnetosheath as well as the position of the spacecraft being used to generate the OMNI data set.