Plasma jets defined as transient increases in dynamic pressure are a very common phenomenon in the subsolar magnetosheath . In particular, the magnetosheath region downstream of the quasi-parallel shock is permeated by magnetosheath jets. Correspondingly, subsolar jet occurrence is found to be controlled – almost exclusively – by the cone angle of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), i.e., the angle between the IMF and the Earth–Sun line, while other solar wind parameters or their variability only play a minor role . A substantial fraction of jets is believed to originate from bow shock ripples or undulations , which are common at the reforming, patchy, quasi-parallel bow shock . At inclined shock surfaces, the solar wind plasma is compressed, but less decelerated and thermalized, leading to entities of dense and fast plasma inside the magnetosheath . Other generation mechanisms are related to IMF discontinuities, discontinuity-related hot flow anomalies (HFAs), and spontaneous HFAs originating from foreshock cavitons .

Due to their mechanisms of generation, jets are more prevalent closer to the bow shock . Nevertheless, large-scale jets with a cross-sectional diameter of over 2 RE (Earth radii) have been found to impact the subsolar magnetopause at relatively high rates (with respect to other transients) of once every 21 min, on average, and once every 6 min when the IMF cone angle is low (under 30∘). These impact rates are even more remarkable when taking into account that jets of smaller scale occur more often and that typical jet scales are on the order of 1 RE . When jets impact the magnetopause, the consequences can be substantial. Due to their excess dynamic pressure, they will indent the magnetopause locally, generating surface waves on the boundary and inner magnetospheric compressional waves . In addition, local reconnection may perhaps be triggered at the magnetopause . In the magnetosphere, the radiation belt electron population may be modified by magnetopause shadowing . Consequences may even be seen on the ground, in the form of increased ionospheric convection, geomagnetic field variations, and possibly “throat” aurora observations .

Consequences of jets are not only restricted to the magnetopause and the magnetosphere. Also within the magnetosheath, jets are expected to alter ambient plasma due to their excess velocity. Simulation results by show that fast jets push slower ambient magnetosheath plasma out of their way. As a result, that ambient plasma performs an evasive motion around jets, such that it is further slowed down or even pushed in a sunward direction in the vicinity of jets. Thereby, jets may create anomalous flows, stir the plasma in the magnetosheath, and hence be a source of additional turbulence. Note, however, that these simulations were 2-D, which may affect the flow patterns.

A first observational indication for this plasma motion has recently been reported by . Within an interval of repeated jet observations downstream of the quasi-parallel bow shock by the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft , a high plasma velocity variability is seen, which includes sunward plasma flows in the subsolar magnetosheath. Unfortunately, due to the close MMS spacecraft configuration on the order of a few tens of kilometers (i.e., much smaller than the typical jet scale sizes), it could not be directly proven that the sunward flows were indeed caused by the nearby passage of high-speed jets. This is the primary aim of this paper, to ascertain whether or not jets cause evasive motion of the plasma in the magnetosheath.

To achieve this goal, we need observations of jets by multiple spacecraft (at least spacecraft pairs) that feature separations on the order of typical jet cross-sectional scales, so that the jet and the plasma outside can be monitored simultaneously. The orbits of the five Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) spacecraft turn out to be ideally suited . In particular, the inner three THEMIS spacecraft (THA, THD, and THE) regularly traverse the dayside magnetosheath at the required distances from one another when their orbit apogees are located in the subsolar local time sector.

A data set of 2859 subsolar magnetosheath high-speed jets already exists that we can use for this study; ion velocity, density and dynamic pressure measurements of one of them are shown as an example in Fig. . The data set was created for a statistical study by , based on 4 years (2008 to 2011) of five THEMIS spacecraft measurements (THA to THE, each spacecraft treated separately as a single spacecraft). Here we briefly recall the steps that led to the compilation of the jet data set; the selection process is explained in more detail in section 2 of .

First, THEMIS measurements at geocentric distances between 7 and 18RE, taken inside a 30∘ wide cone with the tip at Earth and open towards the Sun, were preselected. From these measurements, magnetosheath intervals were selected: (i) where THEMIS ion density measurements exceeded twice the solar wind density (see panel b of Fig. ) as given by the OMNI high-resolution solar wind data set ; (ii) where the differential ion energy flux of 1 keV ions exceeded that of 10 keV ions; and (iii) where THEMIS magnetometer , electrostatic analyzer , and OMNI IMF, ion density, ion velocity, and plasma beta data were available. Note that the OMNI data are already propagated to the bow shock nose. Averages over 5 min of OMNI measurements preceding any time of interest were used to account for the additional propagation delays to the locations of the THEMIS spacecraft. Therewith, 6960 intervals with durations exceeding 2 min were obtained, comprising in total 2736.9 h of magnetosheath measurements.

Second, within these subsolar magnetosheath data intervals, jets were identified as follows: (i) the dynamic pressure in the geocentric solar ecliptic (GSE) x-direction (pd,x=ρvx2) shall be larger than half the respective solar wind value pd,sw (see panel c of Fig. ). The interval where pd,x>pd,sw/4 shall be denoted as a jet interval of length tjet. Start and end times of that interval shall be denoted with tjet,s and tjet,e, respectively, and the time of maximum pd,x/pd,sw shall be denoted with t0 (all these times are marked with vertical lines in Fig. ). (ii) The observing spacecraft shall be located in the magnetosheath (as defined above) between tjet,s-1 min and tjet,e+1 min. Intervals between tjet,s-1 min and tjet,s and between tjet,e and tjet,e+1 min are called pre-jet and post-jet intervals, respectively (see the top of Fig. ). (iii) The ion velocity vx shall be negative within the jet interval, and shall surpass vx(t0)/2 at least once within both pre-jet and post-jet intervals (see panel a of Fig. ). Therewith we ensure that jets propagate towards the magnetopause and are associated with significant, localized enhancements in velocity. By applying these criteria, identified 2859 jets in total in the preselected magnetosheath data.

go on to identify jet observations by one THEMIS spacecraft (denoted as the reference spacecraft at position rref) for which additional observations by another THEMIS spacecraft (second spacecraft at rsec) are available in a plane perpendicular to the jet propagation direction. That latter direction shall be given by the ion velocity v measured by the reference spacecraft at time t0. In detail, it is ascertained whether there is a second spacecraft such that the angle between d=rsec-rref and v is between 80 and 100∘ at times t0. The second spacecraft shall be located in the magnetosheath between t0±(tjet+1 min). These criteria are fulfilled for 561 jets. For 101 of those, there are even two “secondary” spacecraft measurements available (i.e., all three THEMIS spacecraft were located appropriately in the magnetosheath). Hence, we obtain 662 observations by pairs of jet observing reference spacecraft and context providing second spacecraft in the subsolar magnetosheath. call the data set comprising these 662 cases the two spacecraft (2SC) data set (see Sect. 3 of that paper for more details).

A jet is observed by the reference spacecraft in each of the 662 cases; i.e., there are defined times tjet,s-1 min, tjet,s, t0, tjet,e, and tjet,e+1 min. We identify normalized times tn=0…4, such that tn=0 and tn=4 correspond to tjet,s-1 min and tjet,e+1 min, respectively. Times t0 are associated with tn=2. For the jet shown in Fig. , the normalized times are given on top of the figure in red.

In order to characterize the flow patterns in and around jets, we use the ion velocities v measured by the pairs of THEMIS spacecraft: (i) in the direction of v as seen by the reference spacecraft (vref), which at tn=2 corresponds to the jet direction as observed by the reference spacecraft, and (ii) in the direction d, which is approximately perpendicular to vref, at least at tn=2. We denote ion velocity measurements along vref with v∥, and along d as v⟂. The difference of the latter measurements Δv⟂=v⟂,sec-v⟂,ref indicates whether the flow along the inter-spacecraft line is divergent (Δv⟂ positive) or convergent (Δv⟂ negative).

The results obtained in the previous section allow for the following interpretation. When a high-speed jet penetrates slower magnetosheath plasma, it acts as a plough. The plasma immediately ahead of the fastest jet (core) region (i) will be accelerated in jet propagation direction and thereby contribute to the jet, and (ii) will be pushed to the side (increased divergence of plasma) to make way for the faster jet plasma. This is consistent with increases in both v∥ and Δv⟂ around tn=1 as shown in Figs.  and . The passage of the core jet plasma creates a wake region to which relatively slower plasma is taken in, leading to a minimum in Δv⟂ (less diverging or even converging plasma) and a decrease from the maximum in v∥ between tn=2 and 3 (again, Figs.  and ). The situation is illustrated in an exaggerated and simplified manner in Fig. : see the thin and thick arrows along the trajectory of the “second spacecraft inside jet” that resemble those in Figs. a and b, respectively. Note that Fig. , similar to Figs. b and b, does not show any non-jet-related, i.e., general, differences in v∥ between reference and second spacecraft, as well as generally positive Δv⟂ levels that increase with d, which should be attributed to the common divergence of plasma flows in the subsolar magnetosheath.

Pushing plasma out of the region ahead of the core jet region needs to have repercussions also on the plasma that is not directly in the jet's way, but in the vicinity of the propagation path. It will also be pushed away from that path ahead of the jet, consistent with an increase in Δv⟂ before tn=2 in Fig. b. Likewise, behind the jet, plasma streaming into the wake region will also lead ambient plasma outside of the jet's way to follow suit, thereby decreasing Δv⟂ after tn=2, in agreement with observations. The plasma motion out/into the jet's way ahead/behind it needs to be closed by plasma motion from the region ahead to the region behind the jet. That plasma motion is opposite to the jet's direction of propagation and to the regular magnetosheath plasma motion, to which it is superposed. As a result, the ambient plasma motion in vref direction (i.e., v∥) should exhibit a local minimum on the jet passage at tn=2, as illustrated by the thin arrows in Fig.  along the trajectory “second spacecraft outside jet”. This can be seen in Fig. a. Note, however, that this minimum in median v∥ is very shallow and far from exhibiting the sunward plasma motion (negative v∥) in the ambient magnetosheath, seen in simulations by as a reaction to jet penetration. Not even the lower quartiles of second spacecraft v∥ measurements become negative.

In the frame of reference of the background magnetosheath flow (Figs. b, b, and thick arrows in Fig. ), the plasma motion in and around jets is clearly vortical. In that respect, jets may be comparable to bursty bulk flows, as those cause somewhat similar plasma flows while ploughing through slower ambient plasma in the tail of the magnetosphere e.g.,.

There are also similarities in plasma motion with the laminar flow of an incompressible medium around a sphere or cylinder, in the sub-(magneto)-sonic regime applicable to most jets . In agreement with this interpretation, the change around tn=2 from more to less diverging (even converging) flows, between maximum and minimum in Δv⟂, occurs on longer timescales when observing ambient plasma further away from the jet (see Fig. b); these changes are fastest inside the jet (see Fig. b). In fact, observations of the second spacecraft not traversing the jet and being distant from the reference spacecraft hardly exhibit the full bipolar Δv⟂ signature between tn=0 and tn=4 (blue and green lines/arrows in Figs. b and b). Increases in divergence seem to start earlier than at tn=0. And at tn=4, median Δv⟂ values are still not recovering from the decreasing trend. Hence, the plasma motion of jet evasion starts earlier and is concluded later for plasma elements that are further away from the jet's path.

Lastly, it should be mentioned that the evasive plasma motion and, in general, the flow patterns in and around jets may be dependent on particular properties of those jets. For instance, it seems reasonable to assume that the cross-sectional scale size of jets, perpendicular to their propagation direction, may affect the evasive plasma motion, as it correlates with the amount of plasma that needs to be displaced. Unfortunately, it is impossible from two-spacecraft measurements to determine that perpendicular scale size for individual jets. Hence, any possible effect on plasma flow patterns associated therewith cannot be addressed in this paper. These and other effects dependent on jet properties remain to be studied in the future.

We have performed a statistical study of plasma flows in and around magnetosheath high-speed jets, based on 662 cases in which one THEMIS spacecraft observed a jet and another nearby THEMIS spacecraft provided context to that observation. We find direct evidence for the following behavior: magnetosheath high-speed jets accelerate slower plasma ahead of them in their propagation path and push it to the side. After passage, plasma that is slower than the fastest jet plasma fills the wake region of the jet along its path. This evasive motion of slower plasma to give way to the jet core plasma is found to occur similarly in the ambient magnetosheath, near but not on a jet's path. In the frame of reference of the background magnetosheath flow, the plasma clearly performs a vortical motion. Divergent and convergent flows out of and towards the jet's path are complemented by flows in the opposite direction to the jet's propagation direction. These flows are superposed to the usual background flow of ambient plasma in the magnetosheath (mostly in the direction of propagation), thereby slowing plasma down. That deceleration is, however, small on average, so that no sunward flows become apparent in the statistical (median) results, contrary to simulations by and case study observations by .