Magnetic Field Draping in Induced Magnetospheres: Evidence from the MAVEN Mission to Mars
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The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission has been orbiting Mars since 2014 and now has tens of thousands of orbits which we use to characterize Mars' dynamic space environment. Through global field line tracing with MAVEN magnetic field data we find an altitude dependent draping morphology that differs from expectations of induced magnetospheres in the vertical (Ẑ Mars Sun-state, MSO) direction. We quantify this difference from the classical picture of induced magnetospheres with a Bayesian multiple linear regression model to predict the draped field as a function of the upstream interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), remanent crustal fields, and a previously underestimated induced effect. From our model we conclude that unexpected twists in high altitude dayside draping (>800 km) are a result of the IMF angle in the X, Y MSO plane. We propose that this is a natural outcome of current theories of induced magnetospheres but has been underestimated due to approximations of the IMF as solely ±Ŷ directed. We additionally estimate that distortions in low altitude (<800 km) dayside draping along Ẑ are directly related to remanent crustal fields. We show dayside draping propagates down tail and previously reported inner magnetotail twists are likely caused by the crustal field of Mars, while the outer tail morphology is governed by an induced response to the IMF direction. We conclude with an updated understanding of induced magnetospheres which details dayside draping for multiple directions of the incoming IMF and discuss the repercussions of this draping for magnetotail morphology.
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