Magnetopause Position and the Reconnection Problem

A multisatellite study of the position of the magnetopause has allowed the first statistical study of the constant F 2/k, describing the kind of interaction that exists between the solar-wind plasma and the Earth’s magnetosphere. Using HEOS-1 plasma data and OGO-5 observations of the magnetopause, we have tried to study the dependence of the magnetopause position D, after normalisation for geometry and dynamical pressure, on the IMF latitude ϑ and on the solar wind β (plasma pressure/magnetic pressure ratio). Differences are found for the average value of D depending on whether ϑ> 0°, ϑ 0.9 or β < 0.9.