Solar wind charge exchange during geomagnetic storms

On 2001 March 31 a coronal mass ejection pushed the subsolar magnetopause to the vicinity of geosynchronous orbit at 6.6 R_E. The NASA/GSFC Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) employed a global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model to simulate the solar wind‐magnetosphere interaction during the peak of this geomagnetic storm. Robertson et al. then modeled the expected soft X‐ray emission due to solar wind charge exchange with geocoronal neutrals in the dayside cusp and magnetosheath. The locations of the bow shock, magnetopause and cusps were clearly evident in their simulations. Another geomagnetic storm took place on 2000 July 14 (Bastille Day). We again modeled X‐ray emission due to solar wind charge exchange, but this time as observed from a moving spacecraft. This paper discusses the impact of spacecraft location on observed X‐ray emission and the degree to which the locations of the bow shock and magnetopause can be detected in images (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)