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Where do field lines go in the quiet magnetosphere?
Author(s) -
Stern David P.,
Alexeev Igor I.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
reviews of geophysics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 8.087
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1944-9208
pISSN - 8755-1209
DOI - 10.1029/rg026i004p00782
Subject(s) - magnetosphere , field line , physics , ionospheric dynamo region , earth's magnetic field , geophysics , plasma sheet , magnetic field , polar , line of force , field (mathematics) , l shell , interplanetary magnetic field , geomagnetic secular variation , mercury's magnetic field , computational physics , solar wind , geomagnetic storm , astronomy , quantum mechanics , mathematics , pure mathematics
The state of our knowledge is reviewed concerning the global pattern of geomagnetic field lines. Sources of information on that pattern include (1) magnetic field models, derived directly from magnetic data or indirectly from general observed properties and from physics, (2) the tracing of magnetospheric features, e.g., polar cusps or the inner edge of the plasma sheet, (3) matching of magnetic flux, and (4) analysis of magnetic fields. Field line structure inside about 8 Earth radii is known fairly well, but beyond that, especially in the tail, the situation becomes rather uncertain and variable. Two particularly difficult problems are (1) the linkage between open field lines and the interplanetary field and (2) the field line structure of the “quiescent” magnetosphere following periods of prolonged northward B z .