资源环境科技发展态势分析平台

Although many works have investigated the occurrence rate of flux transfer events (FTEs) under different upstream conditions, the relation between the upstream Mach number and the occurrence rate of FTEs remains unclear. By using global magnetohydrodynamics simulations, we study the occurrence rate of FTEs under different upstream Alvenic Mach numbers (M-A). A recently developed method is used to identify the FTEs throughout the dayside magnetopause. It shows that the occurrence rate of FTEs decreases with increasing value of M-A. We suggest that the magnetosheath beta, which increases with increasing M-A, plays an important role in the process of reconnection and thus affects the occurrence rate of FTEs. As the solar wind M-A increases with increasing distance from the Sun, we speculate that the planet with a larger heliocentric distance may have less FTEs because of the increasing value of upstream M-A.