ST1.9 | Turbulence in space plasmas: from injection to dissipation
EDI
Turbulence in space plasmas: from injection to dissipation
Co-organized by NP6
Convener: Olga Alexandrova | Co-conveners: Luca Sorriso-Valvo, Jesse CoburnECSECS, Julia Stawarz, Petr Hellinger
Orals
| Wed, 17 Apr, 14:00–15:45 (CEST)
 
Room 0.51
Posters on site
| Attendance Wed, 17 Apr, 16:15–18:00 (CEST) | Display Wed, 17 Apr, 14:00–18:00
 
Hall X3
Posters virtual
| Attendance Wed, 17 Apr, 14:00–15:45 (CEST) | Display Wed, 17 Apr, 08:30–18:00
 
vHall X3
Orals |
Wed, 14:00
Wed, 16:15
Wed, 14:00
Space and astrophysical plasmas are typically in a turbulent state, exhibiting strong fluctuations of various quantities over a broad range of scales. These fluctuations are non-linearly coupled and this coupling may lead to a transfer of energy (and other quantities such as cross helicity, magnetic helicity) from large to small scales and to dissipation. Turbulent processes are relevant for the heating of the solar wind and the corona, and the acceleration of energetic particles. Many aspects of the turbulence are not well understood, in particular, the injection and onset of the cascade, the cascade itself, the dissipation mechanisms. Moreover, the role of specific phenomena such as the magnetic reconnections, shock waves, solar wind expansion, plasma instabilities and their relationship with the turbulent cascade and dissipation are under debate. This session will address these questions through discussion of observational, theoretical, numerical, and laboratory work to understand these processes. This session is relevant to many currently operating missions (e.g., Wind, Cluster, MMS, STEREO, THEMIS, Van Allen Probes, DSCOVR) and in particular for the Solar Orbiter and the Parker Solar Probe.

Orals: Wed, 17 Apr | Room 0.51

Chairpersons: Julia Stawarz, Olga Alexandrova, Jesse Coburn
14:00–14:10
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EGU24-11006
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solicited
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Highlight
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On-site presentation
Richard Morton and Rahul Sharma

Alfvén wave turbulence models are the foundation of many investigations into the winds and EUV/X-ray emission from cool, solar-like stars. The models are used to estimate mass loss rates, magnetic spin down and exoplanet habitability. However, the models currently rely on ad-hoc estimates of critical parameters. One such parameter is the perpendicular correlation length, L (the energy injection length scale), whose value has significant influence over the turbulent heating and mass loss rates. Using the Coronal Multi-channel Polarimeter, a ground based corona-graph, we provide the first measurements of the correlation length of Alfvénic waves at the base of the corona. Our analysis shows the values are broadly homogeneous through the corona and have a distribution sharply peaked around 7.6 - 9.3 Mm. The measured correlation length is comparable to the expected scales associated with supergranulation. The results also suggest a discrepancy between the coronal values of L, theoretical transport models for the evolution of L with distance from the Sun, and previous estimates of L beyond the Alfvén critical zone. We suggest a thesis as to the missing physics.

How to cite: Morton, R. and Sharma, R.: Transverse energy injection scales at the base of the solar corona, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-11006, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-11006, 2024.

14:10–14:20
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EGU24-1136
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ECS
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On-site presentation
Alina Bendt, Sandra Chapman, and Thierry Dudok de Wit

The Solar Orbiter (SO) mission provides a unique opportunity to study the evolution of turbulence in the solar wind across different distances from the sun and different plasma conditions. We use SO observations of extended intervals of homogeneous solar wind turbulence to investigate under what conditions the turbulent cascade in the solar wind is supported by either, or both of two distinct phenomenologies, (i) wave- wave interactions and (ii) coherent structure formation and interaction.

We identify nine Solar Orbiter observations of extended intervals of homogeneous solar wind turbulence where each interval is over 10 hours long without current-sheet crossings and other large events. We perform a systematic scale-by-scale decomposition of the observed magnetic field using two wavelets that are known to discriminate between wave-packets and discontinuities, the Daubechies 10 (Db10) and Haar respectively.

A characteristic of turbulence is that the probability distributions (pdfs) of fluctuations obtained on small scales exhibit extended supra-Gaussian tails, and as the scale is increased, the moments decrease and there is ultimately a cross-over to Gaussian pdfs at the outer scale of the turbulence. Using quantile quantile plots, we directly compare the fluctuations pdfs obtained from Haar and Db10 decompositions. This reveals three distinct regimes of behaviour. On larger scales, deep within the inertial range (IR), both the Haar and Db10 decompositions give essentially the same fluctuation pdfs. On the smallest scales, deep within the kinetic range (KR), the pdfs are distinct in that the Haar wavelet fluctuations have a much broader distribution, and the largest fluctuations are associated with coherent structures. On intermediate scales, that span the IR-KR scale break identified from the power spectra, the pdf is composed of two populations, a core with a common pdf functional form for the Haar and Db10 fluctuations, and extended tails where the Haar fluctuations dominate. This establishes a cross-over between wave-packet dominated phenomenology in the IR, to coherent structure dominated phenomenology in the KR. We find that the intermediate range of scales is quite narrow around 0.9 au so that the crossover from wave-packet to coherent structure dominated phenomenology is quite abrupt. At around 0.3au, the crossover occurs over a broader range of scales extending down to the 0.25s scale and up to 4s.

As coherent structures and wave-wave interactions have been proposed as candidates to mediate the turbulent cascade, these results offer new insights into the evolution of the turbulent cascade with distance from the sun.

How to cite: Bendt, A., Chapman, S., and Dudok de Wit, T.: The relative prevalence of wave-packets and coherent structures in the inertial and kinetic ranges of turbulence as seen by Solar Orbiter, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-1136, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-1136, 2024.

14:20–14:30
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EGU24-7045
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On-site presentation
Xin Wang, Yuxin Wang, and Haochen Yuan

In the solar wind turbulence, proton temperature fluctuations are highly intermittent, especially at small scales in the inertial range. This phenomenon may contain information about solar wind intermittent heating. However, the physical nature of the temperature intermittency is not yet clear. Based on the measurements from Solar Orbiter between 2020 and 2023, we identify temperature intermittent structures in the fast and slow solar wind, respectively. We compare the nature and kinetic effects of them. According to the variations of proton temperature and magnetic field when the temperature intermittency occurs, we classify the temperature intermittency in the fast wind into the following five categories: (1) 20% of the cases are identified as linear magnetic holes with local temperature enhancement, and a majority of them are unstable to mirror-mode (MM) instability. (2) 18% are related to tangential current sheets also with local temperature enhancement. (3) 9% are tangential discontinuities with a temperature interface, which could separate two different parcels of plasma. (4) 15% of the cases are accompanies by local temperature decrease that may be also due to MM instability. (5) 25% of the cases show a chain of magnetic field variations probably related to Alfven vortices. In the slow wind, the situation is different. The temperature intermittent structures are mainly associated with firehose instability. These results will help to further understand the intermittent dissipation process in the solar wind turbulence.

How to cite: Wang, X., Wang, Y., and Yuan, H.: Nature of temperature intermittency in the solar wind turbulence, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-7045, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-7045, 2024.

14:30–14:40
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EGU24-13402
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ECS
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Highlight
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On-site presentation
Simon Opie, Daniel Verscharen, Christopher Chen, Christopher Owen, Philip Isenberg, Luca Sorriso-Valvo, Luca Franci, and Lorenzo Matteini

Precisely how and where energy transfer between scales in the Solar Wind takes place remains an open question. We use the occurrence of conditions predicted by linear theory to promote the growth of kinetic instabilities, to infer how turbulence drives temperature anisotropies. We analyse Solar Orbiter data by applying the measure of local energy transfer (LET) derived from the Politano and Pouquet exact law to identify the relative distributions of energy transfer processes in the solar wind. We quantify these processes with the application of a radial rate of strain computed from single spacecraft data, a measure that we define as an approximation of the strain rate in fully three-dimensional turbulence. We find good agreement with the theoretical prediction that velocity shear is responsible for driving temperature anisotropies. We conclude that the turbulent velocity field plays a key role in the creation of unstable conditions in the Solar Wind.

How to cite: Opie, S., Verscharen, D., Chen, C., Owen, C., Isenberg, P., Sorriso-Valvo, L., Franci, L., and Matteini, L.: Energy transfer in the Solar Wind: The interplay between turbulence and kinetic instabilities., EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-13402, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-13402, 2024.

14:40–14:50
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EGU24-11198
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ECS
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On-site presentation
Monofractality in the solar wind at electron scales
(withdrawn)
Vincent David, Sébastien Galtier, and Romain Meyrand
14:50–15:00
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EGU24-15798
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ECS
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solicited
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On-site presentation
Davide Manzini, Fouad Sahraoui, and Francesco Califano

The differential heating of electrons and ions by turbulence in weakly collisional magnetized plasmas and the scales at which such energy dissipation is most effective are still debated. Using a large data sample measured in the Earth’s magnetosheath by the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission
and the coarse-grained energy equations derived from the Vlasov-Maxwell system we find evidence of a balance over two decades in scales between the energy cascade and dissipation rates. The decline of cascade rate at kinetic scales (in contrast with a constant one in the inertial range), is balanced by increasing ion and electron heating rates, estimated via the pressure-strain. Ion scales are found to contribute most effectively to ion heating, while electron heating originates equally from ion and electron scales. These results can potentially impact the current understanding of particle heating in turbulent magnetized plasmas as well as their theoretical and numerical modeling.

How to cite: Manzini, D., Sahraoui, F., and Califano, F.: On the Cascade-Dissipation Balance in Astrophysical Plasmas, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-15798, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-15798, 2024.

15:00–15:10
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EGU24-17757
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On-site presentation
Victor Montagud-Camps, Sergio Toledo-Redondo, Petr Hellinger, Andrea Verdini, Emanuele Papini, Julia Stawarz, Luca Sorriso-Valvo, Inmaculada F. Albert, and Aida Castilla

Earth's magnetosheath is a medium where plasma parameters can take a wide range of values and where plasma fluid properties can vary greatly, depending on the distance to the bow shock and the upstream solar wind conditions. Plasma turbulence that develops in the magnetosheath is also affected by these changes, thus giving rise to a similar variety of turbulence regimes.

With the data collected during the MMS unbiased magnetosheath campaign, it is now possible to explore the plasma parameter space of the magnetosheath and study turbulence properties with a set of high-cadence in-situ measurements. This dataset was gathered from February 1st 2023 to April 1st 2023 and consists of 15 inbound magnetosheath crossings from which 300 burst-data intervals were collected. During each crossing, the burst-mode measurements were taken for 3 minutes every 6 minutes, without imposing any selection criteria to collect the data. The length of the time intervals and their time resolution make them suitable to study the turbulent dynamics around the ion spectral break.

In this work we will study the different contributions to the energy cascade rate (measured by means of scaling laws derived from the Hall-MHD equations) and their dependence on plasma conditions, like the plasma beta, and turbulence properties, such as the spectral index and turbulence anisotropy.

How to cite: Montagud-Camps, V., Toledo-Redondo, S., Hellinger, P., Verdini, A., Papini, E., Stawarz, J., Sorriso-Valvo, L., F. Albert, I., and Castilla, A.: An unbiased view of the contributions to turbulence cascade in Earth's magnetosheath., EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-17757, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-17757, 2024.

15:10–15:20
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EGU24-6582
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ECS
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On-site presentation
Dariusz Wójcik and Wiesław Marian Macek

The solar wind flowing from the solar corona at supersonic and super-Alfvénic speeds is the subject of intense research at present. Numerous studies focused on temporal variability of plasma parameters, crucial to define solar wind plasma, showed that spectral distributions exhibit Power-law dependence. Additionally, examinations of its fluctuations revealed a distinctive evolution in shape of PDF’s shifting from Gaussian (Maxwellian) to peaked and heavy-tailed distributions, towards smaller scales. 

Turbulence stands as a complex, nonlinear, and multiscale phenomenon, based on a sophisticated cascade theory. While its complete description remains an unsolved challenge, various statistical methods such as structural functions or power spectra offer partial insights. Although the well-established Kolmogorov theory (K41) holds in the inertial region of magnetized plasma [10.1103/PhysRevE.78.026414], its applicability at smaller scales or higher frequencies is known to be an exception. Thus, alternative methods, such as a kinetic treatment, should be considered. 

Common approaches rely on various plasma parameters and processes, limiting their applicability in highly dynamic turbulence like the solar wind. Consequently, an alternative approach based on the framework of stochastic processes theory, particularly Markov processes, has been introduced to characterize energy transfer across the turbulent cascade. Statistical evidence suggests that turbulence has Markov properties. Furthermore, the differential equation of the Markov process can be extracted directly from data. Estimation of the Kramers-Moyal coefficients plays a pivotal role in discerning the form of the Fokker-Planck (or equivalently Langevin) equation that governs the evolution of the PDF with scale for the increments. Models based on a drift force and diffusion strength depending on scale have been emerging as a viable approach for elucidating the dynamics of solar wind turbulence, hence this method can be considered as a junction between the statistical and dynamical analysis.

Based on the data collected by the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission’s satellites, we delve into the subject of turbulence on inertial, sub-ion, and kinetic scales. Building upon prior Markovian analysis of turbulence of the transfer of magnetic-to-magnetic field fluctuations in the near-Earth space environment [10.1093/mnras/stad2584, 10.3847/1538-4357/aca0a0], we also extend our investigation to ion velocity-to-velocity and magnetic-to-velocity cases. However, we direct our focus towards the purer statistical facet of the analysis, joint with the elements of dynamical approach. We analyze whether the transfer of increments exhibits `local` or `non-local` character, which in this context, they describe the scales involved in interactions that lead to the turbulent cascade. Additionally, we observe a global scale-invariance in relation to the Fokker-Planck equation, for a magnetic field case. 

Finally, we briefly discuss a potential non-parametric approach, namely a stochastic dynamical jump-diffusion model, or alternatively a multi-fractal approach, which can be useful to describe the underlying process accurately. We believe that such a comparative approach spanning diverse conditions is meaningful, as it aims to unveil any underlying universality within the statistical properties of the near-Earth solar wind space plasma at the intricate kinetic and sub-ion scales.

Acknowledgments: This work has been supported by the National Science Centre, Poland (NCN), through grant No. 2021/41/B/ST10/00823.

How to cite: Wójcik, D. and Macek, W. M.: Probing Small Scale Solar Wind Turbulence: Markovian Analysis and Scale Interactions from Inertial to Kinetic Regimes, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-6582, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-6582, 2024.

15:20–15:30
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EGU24-20199
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Highlight
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Virtual presentation
DongSheng Cai, Shigeru Fujita, and Bertrand Lembege

Magnetospheric coherent structures related to the dynamics of the dayside magnetopause frontier for a northward IMF configuration, are analyzed using global 3D MHD simulations. The main goal is to reach a synthetic scenario on the formation of 3D unstable/stable structures developed in different steps from the dayside to the night side. They are: (i) the Kelvin-Helmholtz (K-H) vortexes are generated along and outside the magnetopause near the dayside region, while other K-H vortexes are generated along and inside the magnetopause;  (ii) Those vortexes frozen to the magnetic field  at the inner sides of the magnetopause at both dusk/dawn sides extend towards the north and south.  They face each other near the north and south ionosphere with counter inverse rotation to form the so-called “inverse” Karman vortexes; (iii) both rows of vortexes are shed off soon from the magnetopause; (iii) these vortexes are unstable in one each row, adjust, and evolve into a marginal stable Kármán vortex street; (iv) these Kármán vortexes soon are reformed into stable longitudinal (stream-wise) coherent vortexes and survive for long time over large distances x~-130 to -140Re in the magnetotail. All these processes lead to the formation of magnetospheric coherent turbulent structures. 

How to cite: Cai, D., Fujita, S., and Lembege, B.: Inverse and Forward Alfvenic Kármán Vortex and Magnetospheric Coherent Turbulent Structures in 3D Global MHD Simulations, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-20199, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-20199, 2024.

15:30–15:40
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EGU24-7031
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ECS
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On-site presentation
Wence Jiang, Hui Li, Lina Hadid, Nahuel Andrés, Verscharen Daniel, and Chi Wang

Compressible plasma turbulence is prevalent in planetary plasma environments. However, our current understanding of turbulence injection and dissipation in the highly-compressible magnetosheath is still quite limited. Previous studies have suggested that pickup ion instabilities originating from the far-extended neutral exospheres of Mars may contribute to energy injection, leading to the frequent observation of plateau-like spectral characteristics in the Martian magnetosheath. Nonetheless, it remains unclear how the turbulence cascade rates vary with local parameters related to the bow shock geometry and pickup ions. In this investigation, we conduct a joint analysis of Tianwen-1 and MAVEN data to unveil spectral characteristics and the varying turbulence cascade rates under different bow shock geometries. By employing the exact laws of compressible magnetohydrodynamics turbulence, we observe a systematic increase in cascade rates with the shock normal angle. As the geometry transitions from quasi-parallel to quasi-perpendicular, the ratio between the turbulence cascade rates of the upstream solar wind and the downstream magnetosheath increases by 20-30 times. Furthermore, we find that the turbulence cascade rate of cases exhibiting plateau-like spectral shapes increases more significantly with the shock normal angle compared to those without plateau-like features. Our findings offer new insights into understanding turbulence injection and dissipation downstream of collisionless super-critical bow shocks in space and astrophysical plasmas.

How to cite: Jiang, W., Li, H., Hadid, L., Andrés, N., Daniel, V., and Wang, C.: Significant Enhancement of Turbulence Cascade Rates Downstream of Quasi–perpendicular Bow Shock at Mars, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-7031, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-7031, 2024.

15:40–15:45

Posters on site: Wed, 17 Apr, 16:15–18:00 | Hall X3

Display time: Wed, 17 Apr, 14:00–Wed, 17 Apr, 18:00
Chairpersons: Olga Alexandrova, Jesse Coburn, Julia Stawarz
X3.1
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EGU24-10703
Kristopher Klein and Theodore Broeren

Turbulence is three-dimensional, multiscale disorder. Characterizing turbulence requires determining how energy is injected into, transported through, and removed from these systems. One can study the three-dimensional structure by using measurements from at least four spatial points combined with appropriate analysis approaches to estimate spatial gradients and distributions of power at a given scale. Such techniques have been applied to data from spacecraft missions such as MMS and Cluster, but are limited to a single scale associated with the average inter-spacecraft distance. Given that future selected and proposed spacecraft missions, including HelioSwarm and Plasma Observatory, will have many more than four measurement points, with separations between the spacecraft spanning different characteristic spatial scale lengths, we consider the extension of previously implemented analysis techniques to these multipoint, multiscale configurations. In particular, we consider the propagation of measurement error through the wave telescope technique as a function of the number of measurements points and configuration to demonstrate the impact on accurate resolution of the underlying wavevectors. We also explore the optimal selection of subsets of measurement points to more accurately measure the properties of plane waves and wave packets with wavevectors spanning the spatial scales encompassed by a representative multispacecraft observatory.

How to cite: Klein, K. and Broeren, T.: Analysis Techniques for Future Multipoint, Multiscale Observatories, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-10703, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-10703, 2024.

X3.2
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EGU24-9272
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Highlight
Olivier Le Contel, Benoit Lavraud, Alessandro Retino, Matthieu Kretzschmar, Vincent Génot, Olga Alexandrova, Malik Mansour, Carine Amoros, Guillaume Jannet, Rituparna Baruah, Fatima Mehrez, Thierry Camus, Dominique Alison, Alexander Grigoriev, Claire Revillet, Marina Studniarek, Laurent Mirioni, Clémence Agrapart, Gérard Sou, and Nicolas Geyskens and the HelioSwarm team

The HelioSwarm mission was selected as a MIDEX mission by NASA in February 2022 for launch in 2029 with a nominal duration of 15 months. Its main objectives are to reveal the 3D spatial structure and dynamics of turbulence in a weakly collisional plasma and to investigate the mutual impact of turbulence near boundaries (e. g., Earth’s bow shock and magnetopause) and large-scale structures evolving in the solar wind (e. g., coronal mass ejection, corotating interaction region). The HelioSwarm mission will also contribute to the space weather science and to a better understanding of the Sun-Earth relationship. It consists of a platform (Hub) and eight smaller satellites (nodes) evolving along an elliptical orbit with an apogee ~ 60 and a perigee ~15 Earth radii. These 9 satellites, three-axis stabilised, will provide 36 pair combinations and 126 tetrahedral configurations covering the scales from 50~km (subion scale) to 3000 km (MHD scale). It will be the first mission able to investigate the physical processes related to cross-scale couplings between ion and MHD scales by measuring, simultaneously at these two scales, the magnetic field, ion density and velocity variations. Thus each satellite is equipped with the same instrument suite. A fluxgate magnetometer (MAG from Imperial College, UK) and a search-coil magnetometer (SCM) provide the 3D measurements of the magnetic field fluctuations whereas a Faraday cup (FC, SAO, USA) performs the ion density and velocity measurements. In addition, the ion distribution function is measured at a single point onboard the Hub by the iESA instrument, allowing to investigate the ion heating in particular. The SCM for HelioSwarm provided by LPP and LPC2E is strongly inherited of the SCM designed for the ESA JUICE mission. It will be mounted at the tip of a 3m boom and will cover the frequency range associated with the ion and subion scales in the near-Earth environment [0.1-16Hz] with the following sensitivities [15pT/√Hz at 1 Hz and 1.5 pT/√Hz at 10 Hz]. The iESA, developped by IRAP and LAB, is inherited from the PAS instrument operating on the ESA Solar Orbiter mission. It will provide the ion distribution function at high time and angular resolutions, respectively 0.150 s and 3°. Furthermore the energy range will be ~200 eV to 20 keV with 8% energy resolution. Status of the development of SCM and iESA prototypes will be presented.

How to cite: Le Contel, O., Lavraud, B., Retino, A., Kretzschmar, M., Génot, V., Alexandrova, O., Mansour, M., Amoros, C., Jannet, G., Baruah, R., Mehrez, F., Camus, T., Alison, D., Grigoriev, A., Revillet, C., Studniarek, M., Mirioni, L., Agrapart, C., Sou, G., and Geyskens, N. and the HelioSwarm team: The French contribution for the NASA HelioSwarm mission, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-9272, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-9272, 2024.

X3.3
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EGU24-4307
Jana Safrankova, Zdenek Nemecek, Alexander Pitna, Frantisek Nemec, and Luca Franci

The paper analyzes the power spectra of solar wind velocity and magnetic field fluctuations that are computed in the frequency range around the break between inertial and kinetic scales. The study uses measurements of the Bright Monitor of the Solar Wind (BMSW) on board Spektr-R with a time resolution of 32 ms complemented with 10 Hz magnetic field observations from Wind propagated to the Spektr-R location and compare them with observations of Solar Orbiter and Parker Solar Probe closer to the Sun. We concentrate on the ion kinetic scale and investigate statistically the role of parameters like the fluctuation amplitudes of parallel and perpendicular magnetic field components, collisional age, temperature anisotropy or ion and electron beta. Our discussion encompasses the interplay of magnetic field and plasma fluctuations that characterize this dynamic environment and reveals that although the ion beta controls a position of the spectral break between the inertial and kinetic ranges, other mentioned parameters determine the steepness of the kinetic range spectrum of both quantities. We are showing that these statistical results are in line with theoretical considerations.

How to cite: Safrankova, J., Nemecek, Z., Pitna, A., Nemec, F., and Franci, L.: Magnetic field and ion velocity spectra in the solar wind from inertial to kinetic scales, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-4307, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-4307, 2024.

X3.4
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EGU24-7101
Paul Loto'aniu and Larisza Krista

We present wave and turbulence observations by the DSCOVR spacecraft during solar flare and CME events. Over 9-day period, the spectral indices within the magnetic field power spectral density (PSD) in the RTN and mean-field-aligned (MFA) coordinates do not agree. In the inertial range the transverse PSD follows a Kraichnan–Iroshinikov -3/2 index when in MFA coordinates, while in the RTN frame the same PSD is more complex showing Kolmogorov -5/3 index at lower frequencies followed by a shallow index close to -1 at the inertial subrange before steepening to -2 close to the He+ cyclotron frequency. We show that the differences are due to the changing interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) direction relative to the solar wind velocity within the CME periods. We present evidence of wave-wave modulation and suggest that lower frequency waves in the solar wind can modulate the growth rates/propagation of ion cyclotron waves providing a method to transfer energy in the solar wind to smaller scales. Furthermore, we suggest that the Kraichnan–Iroshinikov -3/2 index in the inertial range can be explained by combining containment due to wave generation/propagation and stochastic Brownian motion in the solar wind. When these two phenomena are equal, they combine to create a -3/2 index.

How to cite: Loto'aniu, P. and Krista, L.: Spectral Indices and Evidence of Wave-Wave Modulation in Observations of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-7101, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-7101, 2024.

X3.5
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EGU24-20578
Igor Sokolov, Arcadi Usmanov, Bart van der Holst, and Tamas Gombosi

The existing Alfven Wave Turbulence Based Solar Atmosphere Model (AWSoM) as used in the SWMF framework of the University of Michigan to simulate the Solar Corona and Inner Heliosphere (i.e. to 1 AU heliocentric distance) meets an ideological problem while compared with the equations for turbulence usually employed in modeling the outer heliosphere (i.e. beyond 1 AU). While for the turbulence in the outer heliosphere the energy difference (the difference between the averaged kinetic and magnetic energy densities) is used as one of the Reynolds-averaged quantity describing the local state of turbulence, the present AWSoM model lacks the energy difference at all. 

Besides an evident inconsistency between the models of turbulence, employing the different sets of variables below and beyond 1 AU, to have a full description of turbulence is important by two reasons, both relating to the charged particle transport producing the radiation hazards in space. First, for simulation both solar energetic particle and galactic cosmic rays at 1 AU a computational domain should extend at least to 2-3 AU. Second, even if below 1 AU the energy difference effect on turbulence might be negligible and not necessary to be included into the turbulence model, it is still needed to calculate transport coefficients for the high energy charged particles in the turbulent magnetic field. To evaluate it from the averaged quantities characterizing the turbulence, both the total energy density and the said energy difference are needed. 

In the presented research, an extra equation for the energy difference in introduced and solved in such way that at small heliocentric distances the turbulence model reduces to that used in the AWSoM with no loss in generality. On the other hand at larger heliocentric distances it becomes very close (if not identical) to the typical outer heliosphere model. In addition to averaged energetic characteristics of turbulence we evaluate the correlation spatial scales for directions parallel and perpendicular to the averaged interplanetary magnetic field was well as the transport coefficients for high-energy charged particles

How to cite: Sokolov, I., Usmanov, A., van der Holst, B., and Gombosi, T.: Unified Alfven Wave Turbulence Based Model for Energy and Particle Transport in Solar Corona and Heliosphere, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-20578, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-20578, 2024.

X3.6
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EGU24-260
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ECS
Ilyas Abushzada and Egor Yushkov

Turbulent magnetic dynamo models were created about fifty years ago to describe the growth of the average magnetic energy in random convective plasma flows. A typical feature of such models is the generation threshold, when the exponential growth of magnetic energy begins only at sufficiently large magnetic Reynolds numbers Rm. In particular, one of the first models, proposed in the 70th by Kazantsev and Kraichnan, predicts a generation threshold in the region of Reynolds numbers of the order of 100. This threshold is difficult to achieve even for modern laboratory experiments, and therefore many studies in recent years have been devoted to clarifying this critical value. However, there is a sufficient disadvantage of usually used turbulent dynamo model – the assumption about delta-correlated in time random velocity field. This nonphysical assumption makes one unconfident in the correctness of the estimate of the dynamo threshold. In this work, using shell MHD models, we are trying to find out how accurate Kazantsev’s estimate of the generation threshold is, and how this threshold depends on the flow velocity, diffusion coefficients, and hydrodynamic helicity. This work was supported by the BASIS Foundation grant no. 21-1-3-63-1.

How to cite: Abushzada, I. and Yushkov, E.: A turbulent dynamo threshold in the shell-model approximation., EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-260, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-260, 2024.

X3.7
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EGU24-17557
Olga Alexandrova, Alexander Vinogradov, Pascal Demoulin, Anton Artemyev, Milan Maksimovic, Andre Mangeney, and Stuart Bale

We study intermittent coherent structures in solar wind magnetic turbulence from MHD to kinetic plasma scales using  Parker Solar Probe data during its first perihelion (at 0.17 au). These structures are energetic events localized in time and covering wide range of scales. We detect them using Morlet wavelets. For the first time, we apply a multi-scale analyses in physical space to study these structures. At large MHD scales, we find (i) current sheets including switchback boundaries and (ii) Alfvén vortices. Within these large scale events, there are  embedded structures at smaller scales: typically  Alfvén vortices at ion scales and a compressible vortices at sub-ion scales. To quantify the relative importance of different type of structures, we do a statistical comparison of the observed structures with the expectations of models of the current sheets and vortices. This comparison is based on amplitude anisotropy of magnetic fluctuations within the structures. The results show the dominance of Alfvén vortices at all scales in contrast to the widespread view of dominance of current sheets. The number of coherent structures grows from the MHD to the sub-ion scales. For one MHD scale structure there are ∼10 ion scale structures and ∼50  sub-ion scale structures. In general, there are multiple structures of ion and sub-ion scales embedded within one MHD structure. There are also examples of non-embedded structures at ion and sub-ion scales.

How to cite: Alexandrova, O., Vinogradov, A., Demoulin, P., Artemyev, A., Maksimovic, M., Mangeney, A., and Bale, S.: Embedded coherent structures from MHD to sub-ion scales in turbulent solar wind: PSP observations at 0.17 au, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-17557, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-17557, 2024.

X3.8
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EGU24-13061
Chadi Salem, Marc Pulupa, Daniel Verscharen, and Peter Yoon

The origin and evolution of non-equilibrium characteristics of electron velocity distribution functions (eVDFs) in the solar wind are still not well understood. They are key in understanding heat conduction and energy transport in weakly collisional plasma, as well as in the scenario at the origin of the solar wind. Due to low collision rates in the solar wind, the electron populations develop temperature anisotropies and velocity drifts in the proton frame, as well as suprathermal tails and heat fluxes along the local magnetic field direction. These non-thermal characteristics are highly variable, and the processes that control them remain an open question.  

We present here a recent work on enhanced measurements of solar wind eVDFs from Wind at 1AU. This work is based on a sophisticated algorithm that calibrates eVDFs with plasma Quasi Thermal Noise data in order to accurately and systematically characterize the non-thermal properties of the eVDFs, as well as those of their Core, Halo and Strahl components.  Indeed, the core, halo and strahl populations are fitted to determine their densities, temperatures and temperature anisotropies as well as their respective drift velocities with respect of the ion velocity (or solar wind speed).  The density, temperature and temperature anisotropy, as well as the parallel heat flux of the total eVDFs are also computed. 

We use a 4-year-long dataset composed of all these parameters at solar minimum to enable statistically significant analyses of solar wind electron properties. We estimate collisional proxies such as collisional age and Knudsen number, and discuss usually neglected effects. In addition to the total electron heat flux, we also compute the heat flux contributions from the core, halo and strahl and discuss the interplay between these three components.  We finally show estimates of the so-called Thermal Force, a drag or Coulomb friction between ions and the electron components that arises naturally from the non-thermal character of the eVDFs, even in the absence of current. This TF enhances the parallel electric field and plays an important, but usually neglected, role in two fluid energy transfers between electrons and ions. It is parallel to the heat flux that causes it, however its role in understanding the observed heat flux remains to be explored.  This statistically-significant work allows a local, quantitative measure of Coulomb coupling that maybe important with possibly other microphysical processes to locally control non-thermal properties.

How to cite: Salem, C., Pulupa, M., Verscharen, D., and Yoon, P.: New Insights on Solar Wind Electrons at 1 AU: Collisionality, Heat Flux, and Thermal Force, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-13061, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-13061, 2024.

X3.9
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EGU24-17726
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ECS
Yi-Lun Li, Ling Chen, and De-Jin Wu

The Voyager 1 and 2 are only the two spacecraft that have arrived and passed through the heliospheric boundaries. Based on the plasma data from Voyager 2 spacecraft, the electron quasi-thermal noise (QTN) is investigated by using of the electron population model consisting of a core with Maxwellian distribution and a halo with kappa distribution. The power spectra of the electron QTN is calculated at different heliocentric distances from 1 AU to 110 AU. The parametric dependence of the QTN power spectra and the effective Debye length on the model parameters, such as the density ratio and temperature ratio of the halo to the core, kappa index and the antenna length, are discussed further. The results show that the electron QTN spectrum consists of a plateau in the low frequency band f < fpt, a prominent peak at the plasma frequency fpt, and a rapid decreasing part in the high frequency band f > fpt. The QTN plateau level basically falls down outwards until the termination shock crossing at about 84 AU, after which the plateau rebounds a little near the heliopause. Although the model parameters can be very variable, the QTN plateau level does not present more than the double change in a fairly wide range of the model parameters. The presented results can be useful for future deep-space explorations in the heliosphere and can provide valuable references for the design of onboard detectors.

How to cite: Li, Y.-L., Chen, L., and Wu, D.-J.: Radial Distribution of Electron Quasi-thermal Noise in the Outer Heliosphere, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-17726, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-17726, 2024.

Posters virtual: Wed, 17 Apr, 14:00–15:45 | vHall X3

Display time: Wed, 17 Apr, 08:30–Wed, 17 Apr, 18:00
Chairpersons: Jesse Coburn, Julia Stawarz, Olga Alexandrova
vX3.1
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EGU24-10450
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Highlight
Wave-particle interaction acceleration of proton and 3He/4He ions in impulsive flares with fractal turbulence reconnection model via 3D RHPIC-LBM simulations
(withdrawn after no-show)
Bojing Zhu