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  • MHD-AEPIC simulation data of the geomagnetic storm event

    work
    Creator:
    Xiantong Wang
    Description:
    We perform a geomagnetic event simulation using a newly developed magnetohydrodynamic with adaptively embedded particle-in-cell (MHD-AEPIC) model. We have developed effective criteria to identify reconnection sites in the magnetotail and cover them with the PIC model. The MHD-AEPIC simulation results are compared with Hall MHD and ideal MHD simulations to study the impacts of kinetic reconnection at multiple physical scales. At the global scale, the three models produce very similar SYM-H and SuperMag Electrojet (SME) indexes, which indicates that the global magnetic field configurations from the three models are very close to each other. At the mesoscale we compare the simulations with in situ Geotail observations in the tail. All three models produce reasonable agreement with the Geotail observations. The MHD-AEPIC and Hall MHD models produce tailward and earthward propagating fluxropes, while the ideal MHD simulation does not generate flux ropes in the near-earth current sheet. At the kinetic scales, the MHD-AEPIC simulation can produce a crescent shape distribution of the electron velocity space at the electron diffusion region which agrees very well with MMS observations near a tail reconnection site. These electron scale kinetic features are not available in either the Hall MHD or ideal MHD models. Overall, the MHD-AEPIC model compares well with observations at all scales, it works robustly, and the computational cost is acceptable due to the adaptive adjustment of the PIC domain.
    Keyword:
    MHD, PIC, and Magnetosphere
    Discipline:
    Science