We investigate the validity of Taylor’s hypothesis (TH) in the analysis of velocity and magnetic field fluctuations in Alfvénic solar wind streams measured by Parker Solar Probe (PSP) during the first four encounters. The analysis is based on a recent model of the spacetime correlation of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence, which has been validated in high-resolution numerical simulations of strong reduced MHD turbulence. We use PSP velocity and magnetic field measurements from 24 h intervals selected from each of the first four encounters. The applicability of TH is investigated by measuring the parameter ϵ = δu 0 /√2 V ⊥ , which quantifies the ratio between the typical speed of large-scale fluctuations, δu 0 , and the local perpendicular PSP speed in the solar wind frame, V ⊥ . TH is expected to be applicable for ϵ ≲ 0.5 when PSP is moving nearly perpendicular to the local magnetic field in the plasma frame, irrespective of the Alfvén Mach number M A = V SW ∕ V A , where V SW and V A are the local solar wind and Alfvén speed, respectively. For the four selected solar wind intervals, we find that between 10 and 60% of the time, the parameter ϵ is below 0.2 and the sampling angle (between the spacecraft velocity in the plasma frame and the local magnetic field) is greater than 30°. For angles above 30°, the sampling direction is sufficiently oblique to allow one to reconstruct the reduced energy spectrum E ( k ⊥ ) of magnetic fluctuations from its measured frequency spectra. The spectral indices determined from power-law fits of the measured frequency spectrum accurately represent the spectral indices associated with the underlying spatial spectrum of turbulent fluctuations in the plasma frame. Aside from a frequency broadening due to large-scale sweeping that requires careful consideration, the spatial spectrum can be recovered to obtain the distribution of fluctuation’s energy across scales in the plasma frame.
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A magnetic flux rope configuration derived by optimization of two-spacecraft In-situ measurements
Increasingly one interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) structure can propagate across more than one spacecraft in the solar wind. This usually happens when two or more spacecraft are nearly radially aligned with a relatively small longitudinal separation angle from one another. This provides multi-point measurements of the same structure and enables better characterization and validation of modeling results of the structures embedded in these ICMEs. We report such an event during October 13-14, 2019 when the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory Ahead (STA) spacecraft and the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) crossed one ICME structure at two different locations with nominal separations in both heliocentric distances and the longitudinal angles. We first perform an optimal fitting to the STA in-situ measurements, based on an analytic quasi-three dimensional (3D) model, yielding a minimum reduced χ 2 = 0.468. Then we further apply the optimization approach by combining the magnetic field measurements from both spacecraft along their separate paths across the ICME structure. We find that the output based on the optimization (with the minimum reduced χ 2 = 3.15) of the combined two-spacecraft dataset yields a more consistent result, given the much improved agreement of the model output with PSP data. The result demonstrates a magnetic flux rope configuration with clear 3D spatial variations.
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- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10407140
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Frontiers in Physics
- Volume:
- 10
- ISSN:
- 2296-424X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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ABSTRACT In this work, we present numerical simulations of Stream Interaction Regions (SIRs) and Corotating Interaction Regions (CIRs) using the sunrunner3d tool that employs as a coronal model the boundary conditions obtained by corhel/mas with the pluto code that describes the global 3D structure of the solar wind using the magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) approach in the inner heliosphere. Specifically, we selected a set of SIRs and CIRs observed by the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) and STEREO-A (STA) missions during the Carrington rotations (CRs) 2207 to 2210 and CRs from 2020 to 2022. In order to describe the dynamics of the plasma that constitutes the solar wind background conditions for the selected CRs, we solve the ideal MHD equations in an inertial frame of reference, managing the solar rotation by rotating the boundary values in ϕ (longitude) at a rate corresponding to the sidereal rotation rate of the solar equator. We show that our results using sunrunner3d can globally reproduce the plasma parameters, such as radial velocity, number proton density, and radial magnetic field strength of these large-scale structures, observed by PSP and STA at distances near the Sun and around 1 au, respectively. These results allow exploring the global evolution of SIRs/CIRs in the inner heliosphere using sunrunner3d.
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Aims. An interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) event was observed by the Solar Orbiter at 0.8 AU on 2020 April 19 and by Wind at 1 AU on 2020 April 20. Futhermore, an interplanetary shock wave was driven in front of the ICME. Here, we focus on the transmission of the magnetic fluctuations across the shock and we analyze the characteristic wave modes of solar wind turbulence in the vicinity of the shock observed by both spacecraft. Methods. The observed ICME event is characterized by a magnetic helicity-based technique. The ICME-driven shock normal was determined by magnetic coplanarity method for the Solar Orbiter and using a mixed plasma and field approach for Wind. The power spectra of magnetic field fluctuations were generated by applying both a fast Fourier transform and Morlet wavelet analysis. To understand the nature of waves observed near the shock, we used the normalized magnetic helicity as a diagnostic parameter. The wavelet-reconstructed magnetic field fluctuation hodograms were used to further study the polarization properties of waves. Results. We find that the ICME-driven shock observed by Solar Orbiter and Wind is a fast, forward oblique shock with a more perpendicular shock angle at the Wind position. After the shock crossing, the magnetic field fluctuation power increases. Most of the magnetic field fluctuation power resides in the transverse fluctuations. In the vicinity of the shock, both spacecraft observe right-hand polarized waves in the spacecraft frame. The upstream wave signatures fall within a relatively broad and low frequency band, which might be attributed to low frequency MHD waves excited by the streaming particles. For the downstream magnetic wave activity, we find oblique kinetic Alfvén waves with frequencies near the proton cyclotron frequency in the spacecraft frame. The frequency of the downstream waves increases by a factor of ∼7–10 due to the shock compression and the Doppler effect.more » « less
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Abstract The radial evolution of interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) is dependent on their interaction with the ambient medium, which causes ICME erosion and affects their geoefficiency. Here, an ICME front boundary, which separates the confined ejecta from the mixed, interacted sheath–ejecta plasma upstream, is analyzed in a multipoint study examining the ICME at 1 au on 2020 April 20. A bifurcated current sheet, highly filamented currents, and a two-sided jet were observed at the boundary. The two-sided jet, which was recorded for the first time for a magnetic shear angle <40°, implies multiple (patchy) reconnection sites associated with the ICME erosion. The reconnection exhaust exhibited fine structure, including multistep magnetic field rotation and localized structures that were measured only by separate Cluster spacecraft with the mission inter-spacecraft separation of 0.4–1.6
R E. The mixed plasma upstream of the boundary with a precursor at 0.8 au lacked coherency at 1 au and exhibited substantial variations of southward magnetic fields over radial (transverse) distances of 41–237R E(114R E). This incoherence demonstrates the need for continuous (sub)second-resolution plasma and field measurements at multiple locations in the solar wind to adequately address the spatiotemporal structure of ICMEs and to produce accurate space weather predictions. -
null (Ed.)Since the launch on 2018 August 12, the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) has completed its first five orbits around the Sun, having reached down to ~28 solar radii at perihelion 5 on 2020 June 7. More recently, the Solar Orbiter (SolO) made its first close approach to the Sun at 0.52 AU on 2020 June 15, nearly 4 months after the launch. Using a 3D heliospheric MHD model coupled with the Wang-Sheeley-Arge (WSA) coronal model using the Air Force Data Assimilative Photospheric flux Transport (ADAPT) magnetic maps as input, we simulate the time-varying inner heliosphere, including the trajectories of PSP and SolO, during the current solar minimum period between 2018 and 2020. Above the ADAPT-WSA model outer boundary at 21.5 solar radii, we solve the Reynolds averaged MHD equations with turbulence and pickup ions taken into account and compare the simulation results with the PSP solar wind and magnetic field data, with particular emphasis on the large-scale solar wind structure and magnetic connectivity during each solar encounter.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fphy.2022.960315
