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Deriving the Magnetopause Position from the Soft X‐Ray Image by Using the Tangent Fitting Approach
Author(s) -
Sun Tianran,
Wang Chi,
Connor Hyunju K.,
Jorgensen Anders M.,
Sembay Steven
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9402
pISSN - 2169-9380
DOI - 10.1029/2020ja028169
Subject(s) - magnetopause , context (archaeology) , tangent , image (mathematics) , physics , parameterized complexity , position (finance) , magnetohydrodynamic drive , magnetosphere , geophysics , computer science , magnetohydrodynamics , algorithm , magnetic field , computer vision , geometry , mathematics , geology , finance , quantum mechanics , economics , paleontology
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.