Pressure balance across the magnetopause: Global MHD results

The equilibrium magnetopause location on the dayside is determined by the balance of pressure forces. In this paper we use a physics-based global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) to examine contributions of different terms to this balance. We calculate the total pressure, as well as thermal and magnetic pressures just inside and just outside the magnetopause. Our results show that (1) the total pressure just outside the magnetopause is enhanced with the increasing of BZ in both northward and southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). For southward IMF the thermal pressure is dominant in the total pressure while the magnetic pressure is dominant for northward IMF when BZ is not small ( B Z > 5 nT ) . For southward IMF larger solar wind dynamic pressure further enhances thermal pressure near the magnetopause while for northward IMF the dynamic pressure is more effectively converted to the magnetic pressure; (2) the thermal pressure just outside the magnetopause is significantly enhanced with the increasing southward IMF as compared to the northward IMF case. However, this enhanced thermal pressure is not the only reason for the well-known earthward displacement of the magnetopause under southward IMF conditions. The dayside magnetic reconnection for southward IMF dramatically decreases magnetic pressure just inside the magnetopause. The combination of these two factors explains the Earthward motion of the magnetopause for southward IMF.