Determination of magnetopause and bow shock shape based on convolutional neural network modelling of MESSENGER data
<p><span id="E87">The magnetosphere of Mercury is relatively small and highly dynamic, mostly due to the weak planetary magnetic field. Varying solar wind conditions principally determine the location of both the </span><span id="E89">Hermean</span><span id="E91"> bow shock and magnetopause. In 2011 &#8211; 2015 MESSENGER spacecraft completed over 4000 orbits around Mercury, thus giving a data of more than 8000 crossings of bow shock and magnetopause of the planet, this makes it possible to study in detail the bow shock, the magnetopause and the </span><span id="E93">magnetosheath</span><span id="E95"> structures.</span></p> <p>In this work we determine crossings of the bow shock and the magnetopause of Mercury by applying machine learning methods to the MESSENGER magnetometer data. We attempt to identify the crossings during the whole duration of the orbital mission and model the average three-dimensional shapes of these boundaries. The results are compared with those previously obtained in other works.</p> <p><span id="E101">This work may be of interest for future Mercury research related to the </span><span id="E103">BepiColombo</span><span id="E105"> spacecraft mission, which will enter the orbit around the planet in December 2025.</span></p>