Magnetic Flux Ropes in the Sun-Earth Environment

Magnetic flux ropes in the solar wind are generally identified in the in-situ time-series data of durations from tens of minutes to a few and tens of hours. They carry some distinct characteristics with the large-scale ones... [ view full abstract ]

Magnetic flux ropes in the solar wind are generally identified in the in-situ time-series data of durations from tens of minutes to a few and tens of hours. They carry some distinct characteristics with the large-scale ones categorized as magnetic clouds (MCs). They possess the unique and well-defined set of features including significant field rotation and elevated magnetic field strength, and depressed proton temperature, based on in-situ spacecraft measurements. However they also exhibit a wide range of variability in their configuration and observational signatures. They have been identified and studied for decades and were shown to be geoeffective. Their origination remains elusive except for the large-scale ones which correspond to coronal mass ejections (CMEs). We present a quantitative study of identifying these structures from the in-situ solar wind measurements and the characterization of their configurations via a novel data analysis and modeling technique. We illustrate the general features of identified events, derived from the Grad-Shafranov reconstruction technique, describing two and a half dimensional space plasmas in magnetohydrostatic equilibrium. We present a database of identified small-scale magnetic flux ropes and summarize various statistical properties. We will cross-correlate these properties and examine their solar cycle to cycle variations. We will discuss the implications of our results on the origination of these small-scale flux ropes in interplanetary space.