Equator-S observations of boundary signatures: FTE's or Kelvin-Helmholtz waves?

The observation of a bipolar variation of the magnetic field component normal to the magnetopause is usually interpreted in terms of magnetic flux transfer events, FTE's. Our MHD simulations indicate that such signatures can also be explained by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI). We have analyzed Equator-S data on March 10, 1998 at the dawnside magnetospheric flank and compared our 2D MHD simulation results with these observations. Equator-S encountered strongly perturbed magnetic signatures and very thin magnetic boundaries with brief intervals satisfying the Walen relation. The de Hoffmann-Teller (HT) velocities for these brief intervals were much larger than that of the overal 36 min period.