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arXiv · 2606.01893

Visualizing the Magnetic Structure in Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections with ATHARV

Vivek Menon·Jyoti Sheoran·Vaibhav Pant·Dipankar Banerjee
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Abstract

Interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) are major drivers of space weather, and their geoeffectiveness is strongly governed by the structure and orientation of their internal magnetic field. However, in-situ observations provide only 1D sampling along a spacecraft trajectory, limiting direct inference of the ICME 3D magnetic structure. We introduce the Analysis Tool for Heliospheric Arrangement of Remapped Vectors (ATHARV), which remaps in-situ time-series measurements into spatial coordinates while accounting for ICME expansion and spacecraft motion. ATHARV assumes self-similar expansion with different expansion rates along three orthogonal directions, while more general cases use measured velocities as proxies for plasma motion. The framework also incorporates complementary diagnostics, including hodograms and magnetic-field orientation angles, to assess magnetic coherence and field rotation within ICMEs. We demonstrate ATHARV using multipoint observations of an ICME detected near 1 au by STEREO-A and Wind on 2023 April 23--24. The reconstructed sheath exhibits disordered and variable magnetic fields, whereas the magnetic ejecta (ME) shows a coherent rotation consistent with a right-handed SWN flux-rope configuration at both spacecraft. However, differences in magnetic-field magnitude profiles, rotation signatures, and inferred ME sizes indicate mesoscale inhomogeneity within the ICME magnetic structure, possibly associated with a writhed or distorted flux rope. This event highlights the limitations of interpreting ICME magnetic configurations from single-point measurements and demonstrates the importance of multipoint observations for investigating their 3D structure and evolution. ATHARV provides a consistent framework for interpreting in-situ ICME observations and investigating their spatial structure and evolution, and is publicly available to the heliophysics community.

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Vivek Menon, Jyoti Sheoran, Vaibhav Pant, Dipankar Banerjee. 2026-06-01. Visualizing the Magnetic Structure in Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections with ATHARV. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9713987%2Fv1

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