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  • Dataset for Modeling Reconnection-driven Dynamics at Ganymede's Upstream Magnetosphere

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    Creator:
    Zhou, Hongyang
    Description:
    The largest moon in the solar system, Ganymede, is the only moon known to possess a strong intrinsic magnetic field and a corresponding magnetosphere. Using the latest version of Space Weather Modeling Framework (SWMF), we study the upstream plasma interactions and dynamics in this sub-Alfvenic system. Results from the Hall MHD and the coupled MHD with embedded Particle-in-Cell (MHD-EPIC) models are compared. We find that under steady upstream conditions, magnetopause reconnection occurs in a non-steady manner. Flux ropes of Ganymede's radius in length form on the magnetopause at a rate about 2/minute and create spatiotemporal variations in plasma and field properties. Upon reaching proper grid resolutions, the MHD-EPIC model can resolve both electron and ion kinetics at the magnetopause and show localized non-gyrotropic behavior inside the diffusion region. The estimated global reconnection rate from the models is about 80 kV with 60% efficiency, and there is weak evidence of about 1 minute periodicity in the temporal variations due to the dynamic reconnection process.
    Keyword:
    MHD, PIC, Ganymede, and magnetosphere
    Citation to related publication:
    Zhou, H., Tóth, G., Jia, X., & Chen, Y. (2020). Reconnection-Driven Dynamics at Ganymede’s Upstream Magnetosphere: 3-D Global Hall MHD and MHD-EPIC Simulations. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 125(8), e2020JA028162.  https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JA028162
    Discipline:
    Science