Authors: Katelyn Youngjohn, Ivan Vasko, Xi Lu, Vadim Roytershteyn

We present a statistical analysis of 287 electrostatic solitary waves observed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale Spacecraft (MMS) in the vicinity of 18 interplanetary shocks. For each solitary wave, we perform interferometry analysis to estimate its speed, propagation direction, spatial scale, and the amplitude of the electrostatic potential. Our results show that these solitary waves are Debye-scale structures ranging from around one to twenty debye lengths, with speeds in the spacecraft frame up to a few hundred km/s, and electrostatic potential amplitudes generally within 0.5 V. Both negative and positive polarities of the electrostatic potential are observed. We examine the relative occurrence of positive and negative polarity structures, dependence on the Mach number, and other macroscopic shock parameters. We compare these findings with previously reported observations of solitary waves in Earth’s bow shock to establish the dependence of solitary wave properties on macroscopic shock parameters.