NASA NTRS1979
A three-dimensional quantitative model of Mercury's magnetosphere based on Mariner 10 data is presented. The model assumes that the Mercury surface magnetic field consists of a dipole, a quadrupole, and an octupole. The dipole moment is determined, noting that the intensity of the quadrupole moment is 45% of the dipole, and that of the octupole moment is 29% of the dipole. The model meets four critical tests: (1) it produces the smallest residuals, (2) it can reproduce the crossing of a tail current sheet by Mariner 10, (3) all planetary field lines are confined inside the model magnetosphere, and (4) the size of the model agrees with the magnetopause crossings observed from Mariner 10. In addition, the plasma characteristics and regions of quiet and disturbed signatures observed from Mariner 10 are discussed.