Dependence of the location of the Martian magnetic lobes on the interplanetary magnetic field direction: Observations from Mars Global Surveyor

ROMANELLI, NORBERTO; BERTUCCI, CESAR; GOMEZ, DANIEL; MAZELLE, CHRISTIAN

JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH

AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION

Lugar: Washington D.C.; Año: 2015 vol. 120 p. 7737 - 7747

0148-0227

We use magnetometer data from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft during portions of the premapping orbits of the mission to study the variability of the Martian-induced magnetotail as a function of the orientation of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). The time spent by MGS in the magnetotail lobes during periods with positive solar wind flow-aligned IMF component B IMF suggests that their location as well as the position of the central polarity reversal layer (PRL) are displaced in the direction antiparallel to the IMF cross-flow component B IMF. Analogously, in the cases where B IMF is negative, IMF the lobes are displaced in the direction of B ⟂ . This behavior is compatible with a previously published analytical model of the IMF draping, where for the first time, the displacement of a complementary reversal layer (denoted as IPRL for inverse polarity reversal layer) is deduced from first principles.