Surface waves on the dawn and dusk flanks of Jupiter’s magnetopause

Context. The Jovian magnetopause is a highly dynamic boundary that experiences substantial deformation driven by interactions with the co-rotating internal plasma and the solar wind, leading to the development and propagation of wave activity along the boundary.
Aims. This study aims to analyse in situ magnetic field measurements to detect wave activity along the magnetopause and identify the physical processes responsible for the observed perturbations.
Methods. We applied five boundary analysis techniques to magnetic field data from seven different spacecraft to infer the local magnetopause normal. The resulting normals were then compared with a model of the magnetopause in order to detect surface wave activity and characterise its propagation direction.
Results. We identified tailward-propagating waves along the Jovian magnetopause and linked them to solar wind interactions, with signatures probably associated with the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability.
Conclusions. Magnetic field measurements provide robust statistical evidence of tailward-propagating perturbations on both flanks of Jupiter’s magnetopause regardless of the analysis method used.