Abstract
The MHD simulations described here show that the latitude of the high-altitude cusp decreases as the IMF swings from North to South, that there is a pronounced dawn-dusk asymmetry at high-altitude associated with a dawn-dusk component of the IMF, and that at the same time there is also a pronounced dawn-dusk asymmetry at low-altitude. The simulations generate a feature that represents what has been called the cleft. It appears as a tail (when the IMF has a B y component) attached to the cusp, extending either toward the dawn flank or the dusk flank depending on the dawn-dusk orientation of the IMF. This one-sided cleft connects the cusp to the magnetospheric sash. We compare cusp geometry predicted by MHD simulations against published observations based on Hawkeye and DMSP data. Regarding the high-altitude predictions, the comparisons are not definitive, mainly because the observations are incomplete or mutually inconsistent. Regarding the low-altitude prediction of a strong dawn-dusk asymmetry, the observations are unambiguous and are in good qualitative agreement with the prediction.
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Siscoe, G., Crooker, N., Siebert, K., Maynard, N., Weimer, D., White, W. (2005). Cusp Geometry in MHD Simulations. In: Fritz, T.A., Fung, S.F. (eds) The Magnetospheric Cusps: Structure and Dynamics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3605-1_16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3605-1_16
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