A Database for Simultaneous Observations of the Earth's Magnetosheath by Cluster and MMS Between 2017 and 2021

Abstract

Abstract This paper describes a catalog of simultaneous observations of the Earth's magnetosheath by ESA's Cluster and NASA's MMS missions. The catalog is built from a visual inspection of summary plots provided by the two missions complemented by an analysis of high‐resolution magnetic field data. The catalog includes 117 events when Cluster 4 and MMS 4 crossed simultaneously the magnetosheath between January–April, 2017–2021. The dynamical and turbulent features of the magnetosheath are strongly influenced by θBn, the angle between the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and the shock normal direction. To facilitate such investigations, we also determine the bow shock geometry for each event based on two different approaches: (a) a minimum variance analysis of in‐situ magnetic field measurements, and (b) a geometrical approach which considers a bow shock model parameterized by OMNI data. A description of spacecraft trajectory during each event is also provided. Additional data describe the relative distances between Cluster 4 and MMS 4, a classification of each event as either quasi‐parallel or quasi‐perpendicular, and the distribution of events per magnetospheric flank. The time intervals for the Cluster ‐ MMS conjunctions are included in the catalog, as well as all associated figures and tables discussed in this paper are made available through an independent online data repository, and can be freely downloaded and used by any interested researcher.

Keywords

• simultaneous observations of the magnetosheath
• cluster observations
• MMS observations
• bow shock geometry
• time series analysis
• catalog of time intervals