Global magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the magnetosphere

The authors demonstrate the use of a global MHD (magnetohydrodynamic) simulations to study the magnetospheric configuration by reviewing some of the results obtained from the Ogino model. The authors start by considering the steady-state configuration of the magnetosphere in the absence of an IMF (interplanetary magnetic field), and then demonstrate how that configuration is changed when a northward or southward IMF is introduced. It is noted that the magnetosphere is very dynamic and since global MHD simulations are intrinsically time-dependent, they offer the possibility of modeling the time-sequence of events in the magnetosphere. Finally results of a calculation in which a magnetospheric substorm is modeled are presented