We have collated over 25 years of magnetic field, electric field, and velocity data from the Geotail, Cluster, Double Star, and Themis spacecraft missions to elucidate large-scale patterns in the terrestrial magnetotail, particularly those relating to magnetospheric asymmetries.
In this work, we analyze the twisting of Earth’s magnetotail, driven by the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) By component. By filtering the spacecraft data to the region where the tailward directed field and the returning earthward field are at their closest, known as the neutral sheet, we can determine the twist of the tail using in situ measurements of the local magnetic field. Furthermore, by then filtering these data by IMF orientation, we can determine the effect of the IMF on the tail twisting.