Magnetic Field in the Earth's Magnetosheath: Models Versus Observations

Abstract Magnetic field measurements in the Earth's magnetosheath are compared with four analytical models, namely Kobel and Flückiger (1994), ( https://doi.org/10.1029/94ja01778 ), Romashets and Vandas (2019), ( https://doi.org/10.1029/2018ja026006 ), Vandas and Romashets (2019), ( https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2019.07.007 ), and Romashets et al. (2010), ( https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2010.10.010 ). The bow shock and the magnetopause are modeled as paraboloids in all models except that of Vandas and Romashets (2019), ( https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2019.07.007 ), in which they are assumed to be spheroids. 34 magnetosheath crossings by spacecraft are analyzed in detail and it is concluded that the model by Kobel and Flückiger (1994), ( https://doi.org/10.1029/94ja01778 ) performs the best.