Observation and simulation of flux rope structures at the dayside magnetopause

The signatures of flux ropes with obvious core magnetic field are detected by ClusterⅡ at the dayside magnetopause during 11: 00-11: 15 UT on Mar. 2, 2001. The similar characteristics can be found from the magnetic field variations recorded by the four spacecrafts (Cluster Ⅱ C1-C4). All the three (-/+) bipolar signatures in the BN component are accompanied with enhancements of BM and magnetic field strength B in the boundary normal coordinates (LMN coordinates). A MHD simulation with two dimensions and three components is performed to explore the reconnection process driven by the incoming flow of solar wind at the dayside magnetopause. The numerical results can illustrate the recurrent formation of magnetic structures with a core magnetic field. The time history of the magnetic field B and three components Bx, By and Bz at a given point of the current sheet can reproduce the observational features of the events mentioned above.