High energy jets in the Earth’s magnetosheath: Implications for plasma dynamics and anomalous transport

High energy density jets in the magnetosheath near the Earth magnetopause were observed by Interball-1 [1]. In this paper, we continue the investigation of this important physical phenomenon. New data provided by Cluster show that the magnetosheath kinetic energy density during more than one hour exhibits an average level and a series of peaks far exceeding the kinetic energy density in the undisturbed solar wind. This is a surprising finding because the kinetic energy of the upstream solar wind in equilibrium should be significantly diminished downstream in the magnetosheath due to plasma braking and thermalization at the bow shock. We suggest resolving the energy conservation problem by the fact that the nonequilibrium jets appear to be locally superimposed on the background equilibrium magnetosheath, and, thus, the energy balance should be settled globally on the spatial scales of the entire dayside magnetosheath. We show that both the Cluster and Interball jets are accompanied by plasma superdiffusion and suggest that they are important for the energy dissipation and plasma transport. The character of the jet-related turbulence strongly differs from that of known standard cascade models. We infer that these jets may represent the phenomenon of the general physical occurrence observed in other natural systems, such as heliosphere, astrophysical, and fusion plasmas [2–10]. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Statistical Study of Ion Flux Fluctuations in the Magnetosheath

Our paper presents a statistical study of INTERBALL-1 ion flux fluctuations measured in the dusk magnetosheath. We concentrated on low-frequency variations near the magnetopause and in the bow shock region. The results are based on computed relative standard deviations of the magnetosheath ion flux and reveal that an amplification of the solar wind variations is not statistically significant. The level of fluctuations increases from the bow shock toward the magnetopause. The direction of the interplanetary magnetic field and the magnitude of the upstream velocity are found to order the fluctuation level in the magnetosheath.     

Small-scale ion flux and magnetic field fluctuations in solar wind, foreshock and magnetosheath

We have continued investigation of waves in the regions of undisturbed solar wind, foreshock and magnetosheath. The analysis of ion flux and magnetic field variations with the time interval 1--240s was performed in the regions above. Very large variation in such a time interval can be considered the common feature of the foreshock and magnetosheath. The results of case and statistical studies showed that the level of relative variations of ion flux and magnetic field magnitude in foreshock is about 3 times larger than in undisturbed solar wind. Variations of these parameters in the magnetosheath topologically connected with the quasi-parallel bow shock are about two times larger than those behind the quasi-perpendicular. We also compared the results from Interball-1 data analysis with those from statistical analysis of cluster magnetic field measurements. The magnetic field variations obtained from the different satellite data coincide with each other very well not only in quality but also in quantity.     

Small-scale ion flux and magnetic field fluctuations in solar wind, foreshock and magnetosheath

We have continued investigation of waves in the regions of undisturbed solar wind, foreshock and magnetosheath. The analysis of ion flux and magnetic field variations with the time interval 1-240s was performed in the regions above. Very large variation in such a time interval can be considered the common feature of the foreshock and magnetosheath. The results of case and statistical studies showed that the level of relative variations of ion flux and magnetic field magnitude in foreshock is about 3 times larger than in undisturbed solar wind. Variations of these parameters in the magnetosheath topologically connected with the quasi-parallel bow shock are about two times larger than those behind the quasi-perpendicular. We also compared the results from Interball-1 data analysis with those from statistical analysis of cluster magnetic field measurements. The magnetic field variations obtained from the different satellite data coincide with each other very well not only in quality but also in quantity.     

Anomalous flow deflection at earth's low-Alfvén-Mach-Number bow shock

Earth's magnetosphere is an obstacle to the supersonic solar wind and the bow shock is formed in the front side of it. In ordinary hydrodynamics, the flow decelerated at the shock is diverted around the obstacle symmetrically about the Earth-Sun line, which is indeed observed in the magnetosheath most of the time. Here we show a case under a very low-density solar wind in which duskward flow was observed in the dawnside magnetosheath. A Rankine-Hugoniot test shows that the magnetic effect is crucial for this "wrong flow" to appear. A full three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulation of the situation confirming this interpretation and earlier simulations is also performed. It is illustrated that in addition to the "wrong flow" feature, various peculiar characteristics appear in the global picture of the MHD flow interaction with the obstacle.     

On the possibility of reconstructing an anisotropic wind wave spectrum by the method of double-position sonar

We investigate the possibility of reconstructing the wind wave spectrum, with anisotropy taken into account, by the method of ocean acoustic sounding, using horizontally deployed antennas in the continuous mode of operation. This method uses marrow-beam horizontally spaced antennas for radiating a monochromatic sound signal and receiving signals scattered by the surface. By this method, we can localize a definite area of the scattering surface and reconstruct the wind wave spectrum owing to the direct dependence of the wind wave harmonic, which forms the scattered signal, on the position of this area relative to the radiator and the receiver. Expressions that relate the energy spectrum of the scattered signal formed at the receiver output to the wind wave spectrum are found. On the basis of these expressions, an algorithm has been developed for gaining information both about the spatial isotropic spectrum of wind waves and about the dependence of the angular spectrum on the value of the wind wave vector and its direction relative to the wind velocity.Institute of Applied Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nizhny Novgorod. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 38, Nos. 1–2, pp. 139–145, January–February, 1995.     

Numerical evidence of undriven, fast reconnection in the solar-wind interaction with earth's magnetosphere: formation of electromagnetic coherent structures

We give evidence for the first time of the onset of undriven fast, collisionless magnetic reconnection during the evolution of an initially homogeneous magnetic field advected in a sheared velocity field. We consider the interaction of the solar wind with the magnetospheric plasma at low latitude and show that reconnection takes place in the layer between adjacent vortices generated by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. This process generates coherent magnetic structures with a size comparable to the ion inertial scale, much smaller than the system dimensions but much larger than the electron inertial scale. These magnetic structures are further advected in the plasma in a complex pattern but remain stable over a time interval much longer than their formation time. These results can be crucial for the interpretation of satellite data showing coherent magnetic structures in the Earth's magnetosheath or the magnetotail.     

Formation of radio signal spectral lines in propagation through circumsolar plasma

Conclusions The available experimental data on spectral line broadening for monochromatic radio waves propagating in the circumsolar plasma indicate the presence within the spatial spectrum of plasma inhomogeneities of an internal turbulence scale, the effect of which manifests itself in the finite values of the moments of the energy density distribution over frequency and in normatization of the spectral line form in the strong signal scattering regime. Theoretical analysis of line broadening produced by moving inhomogeneities in the solar corona has established a relationship between the second and fourth moments of the spectrum and the turbulence characteristics, permitting determination of the radial profile of the internal inhomogeneity scale for a known velocity of motion. According to Venera 10 data, the internal turbulence scale of the circumsolar plasma is of the order of magnitude of several km at distances of 5–10 solar radii and increases sharply with radial distanee. The change in the value of the internal turbulence scale with distance is of the same type as the dependence of ionic gyroradius on distance to the sun.Analysis of spectral broadening of radio signals is an effective means of studying such characteristics of inhomogeneities in the circumsolar plasma as the form of the spatial spectrum, the intensity of inhomogeneities, their rate of motion, the internal turbulence scale, and the radial profiles of these quantities. Simultaneously, the peculiarities discovered in the behavior of the spatial spectrum of the inhomogeneities require the completion of a stricter analysis of line broadening with consideration of radial variation of both the internal and external turbulence scales, a process which may explain other peculiarities of the spectral broadening of radio signals in the moderate and intense scattering regimes.Institute of Radio Technology and Electronics, Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 22, No. 9, pp. 1051–1060, September, 1979.     

Theory of incoherent scattering in a weakly turbulent ionospheric plasma

The scattering of electromagnetic waves in the ionospheric plasma under weak turbulence is considered. A relation between the scattered radiation spectrum and the plasma turbulence spectra is obtained. This relation can serve as a basis for the investigation of turbulence in a nonequilibrium ionospheric plasma.Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism and Radio Waves, Russian Academy of Sciences, Troitsk, Moscow region. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 38, No. 6, pp. 543–550, June, 1995.     

Some features of solar wind protons, α particles and heavy ions behaviour: The Prognoz 7 and Prognoz 8 experimental results

The paper describes the results of investigations of the solar wind ions, carried out on board the high apogee Prognoz 7 and Prognoz 8 Earth's satellites with the aid of an SKS instrument (USSR) and a Monitor instrument (USSR-SSR). Behaviour of proton and that of components on the front of Earth's bow and interplanetary shock waves were compared by means of the energoanalysis and energy-mass analysis techniques. In several long-term periods of observation the solar wind heavy ions — oxygen, silicon and iron were determined. It enabled us to estimate the solar corona chemical composition and electron temperature.Presented at the 5th General Assembly IAGA/IAMAP August 5–17, 1985, Prague, Czechoslovakia.     

Forecasting Earth's magnetopause, magnetosheath, and bow shock

The magnetopause and bow shock are two of the most important discontinuities in near Earth space, separating three distinct plasma regimes: the solar wind, magnetosheath, and the magnetosphere. Both discontinuities are sensitive to the solar wind conditions. They change their shape and location in space in response to upstream solar wind variations. Prediction of the location of a satellite relative to these two boundaries helps satellite operators to be prepared for major changes in plasma condition. The physical conditions near the magnetopause are useful information for magnetospheric models. Over the past decades, our observational knowledge and physical understanding of these regions have been advanced significantly. We have developed the capability of prediction. The location of the magnetopause and its dependence on the upstream conditions can be relatively accurately predicted. Prediction models have been tested extensively. The success rate is extremely high and the false-alarm rate is relatively low. A magnetosheath prediction model has been developed and tested. Some of the magnetosheath quantities can often be predicted fairly accurately. Others may have slightly larger errors. Further tests and scientific investigations of the causes of these errors are under way. Our ability to predict the location of the bow shock is very limited. More research is needed     

Global particle simulation for a space weather model: present andfuture

The authors report progress in the long-term effort to represent the interaction of the solar wind with the Earth's magnetosphere using a three-dimensional electromagnetic particle model (EMPM) as a space weather model. Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation models have been refined to establish quantitative global modeling in comparison with observations. The EMPM has become more feasible as the power and speed of supercomputers have improved in recent years. Simulations with southward and dawnward turning IMFs have revealed the fundamental processes which have been confirmed by MHD simulations and observations. After a quasisteady state is established with an unmagnetized solar wind, a southward IMF is switched on, which causes the magnetosphere to stretch with reconnection at the dayside magnetopause. The plasma sheet in the near-Earth magnetotail clearly thins. The cross-field current also thins and intensifies, which excites a kinetic (drift kink) instability along the dawn-dusk direction. As a result of this instability the electron compressibility effect appears to be reduced and to allow the collisionless tearing to grow rapidly with the reduced B_z component. Later, magnetic reconnection also takes place in the near-Earth magnetotail. In the case where the northward IMF is switched gradually to dawnward, magnetic reconnection takes place at both the dawnside and duskside. The arrival of dawnward IMF at the magnetopause creates a reconnection groove which causes particle entry into the deep region of the magnetosphere via field lines that go near the magnetopause. The flank weak-field region joins onto the plasma sheet and the current sheet to form a geometrical feature called the cross-tail S that structurally integrates the magnetopause and the tail interior     

On Yaglom’s Law for the Interplanetary Proton Density and Temperature Fluctuations in Solar Wind Turbulence

In the past decades, there has been an increasing literature on the presence of an inertial energy cascade in interplanetary space plasma, being interpreted as the signature of Magnetohydrodynamic turbulence (MHD) for both fields and passive scalars. Here, we investigate the passive scalar nature of the solar wind proton density and temperature by looking for scaling features in the mixed-scalar third-order structure functions using measurements on-board the Ulysses spacecraft during two different periods, i.e., an equatorial slow solar wind and a high-latitude fast solar wind, respectively. We find a linear scaling of the mixed third-order structure function as predicted by Yaglom’s law for passive scalars in the case of slow solar wind, while the results for fast solar wind suggest that the mixed fourth-order structure function displays a linear scaling. A simple empirical explanation of the observed difference is proposed and discussed.     

Solar wind protons,alpha particles and electrons in the shock wave and the potential barrier (The intershock project)

The paper discusses the dynamics of solar wind proton,-particle and electron fluxes near the Earth's bow shock front. In subsequently developed events, deceleration and deflection of ion components and electron heating are observed. The velocity distributions of protons and-particles behind the shock front have a strongly inhomogeneous structure that is gradually smoothing out in the magnetosheath. Unlike protons,-particles behind the front do not generate beams with energy exceeding that of the solar wind.Presented at the Colloquium on Plasma physics Topics Common to the Laboratory and the Space Plasma Research, September 21–25, 1987, Skalsky Dvr, Czechoslovakia.     

Anomalous interaction of a plasma flow with the boundary layers of a geomagnetic trap

Using the data from the Interball-1, GEOTAIL, THEMIS and CLUSTER satellites, we propose a mechanism of anomalous magnetosheath dynamics. This mechanism yields that plasma boundaries can be locally deformed over distances comparable to its thickness. In particular, the magnetospheric boundary, the magnetopause, is deformed over distances up to a few Earth radii (R _E) under the pressure of supermagnetosonic plasma streams (SPSs), instead of reacting to plasma pressure decreases, as it was previously thought. Supermagnetosonic plasma streams having a kinetic pressure a few times larger than the solar wind pressure and the magnetic pressure behind the magnetopause, can crush the magnetopause and even push it outside the mean bow shock position, as determined through the average pressures balance. Anomalous magnetosheath dynamics is initiated by plasma flow anomalies (FAs), triggered by rotational discontinuities, by jumps in the solar wind pressure and by interplanetary shocks, which all interact with the bow shock. We show that the generation mechanism for SPSs, adjacent to the FA, is connected with the compensation of the FA flow reduction by the SPS enhanced flow, which is produced by polarization electric fields at the FA edges. Statistically, SPSs are extreme events, relayed with intermittency and multifractality inside the boundary layers of the geomagnetic trap. In this way, SPSs provide “long-range” interactions between global and microscales. A similar role may be played by fast concentrated flows in the geomagnetic tail, in fusion devices, in astrophysical plasmas and in hydrodynamics.     

Solar wind parameters determination based on statistical processing of the intershock experiment data

We discuss the methodology of evaluating solar wind kinetic parameters using statistical processing of data acquired from the multichannel plasma spectrometer BIFRAM (the INTERSHOCK Project). The great number of parameters to be evaluated and highly non-linear model represent the main difficulties. Several methods of data processing were developed; they are: algorithms of various accuracy and complexity that can be used for calculating detector responses, various criteria of minimisation and their combination, ways to select initial approximation, methods of searching for a global minimum. The results of processing solar wind data measured with high-time resolution in the vicinity of the Earth's bow shock crossing illustrate the proposed methodology.Presented at the Colloquium on Plasma Physics Topics Common to the Laboratory and the Space Plasma Research, September 21–25, 1987, Skalský Dvr, Czechoslovakia.     

On the temporal power spectra of scintillations by propagation through a moving random medium with wave turbulence

The formation of the temporal spectrum of scintillations is considered for electromagnetic waves propagating in a moving continuous random medium with wave turbulence. The relative contributions of the motion of the medium and turbulent wave propagation to the transformation of the spatial spectrum into a temporal one are discussed. Some results obtained from radio occultation by solar wind plasma at small solar elongations are used for choosing a suitable model for wave turbulence.     

Measurement of the electric fluctuation spectrum of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence in the solar wind is observed to show the spectral behavior of classical Kolmogorov fluid turbulence over an inertial subrange and departures from this at short wavelengths, where energy should be dissipated. Here we present the first measurements of the electric field fluctuation spectrum over the inertial and dissipative wave number ranges in a Beta > or approximately = 1 plasma. The k(-5/3) inertial subrange is observed and agrees strikingly with the magnetic fluctuation spectrum; the wave phase speed in this regime is shown to be consistent with the Alfvén speed. At smaller wavelengths krho(i) > or = 1 the electric spectrum is enhanced and is consistent with the expected dispersion relation of short-wavelength kinetic Alfvén waves. Kinetic Alfvén waves damp on the solar wind ions and electrons and may act to isotropize them. This effect may explain the fluidlike nature of the solar wind.     

Studies of the Irregular Structure of the Ionosphere using Scattering of Radio Waves on Artificial Periodic Inhomogeneities

We present new results of our studies of the irregular structure of the ionosphere using artificial periodic inhomogeneities (APIs) of the ionospheric plasma. The observations were carried out from 9:00 to 17:00 in August 10–12, 1999 with a height step of 0.7 km and digital registration and real-time processing of the signal quadratures. It is shown that in many cases, the amplitude of the scattered signal is determined by the interference of radio waves scattered on APIs and on natural ionospheric formations including sporadic layers and large-scale natural irregularities. This allows one to study the irregular structure of the lower ionosphere by analyzing height-time dependences of the amplitude and phase of the scattered signal.     

Instantaneous frequency and wave mode identification in a magnetosheath using few spatial points

Observational data such as those obtained from the magnetosheath in the downstream of Earth＇s bow shock have waveforms that differ from those of sinusoidal signals. In practice, they are not even aggregates of sinusoidal signals. Therefore, the frequency decomposition for the data requires technique that will account for the time-varying features of the data that will lead to deduction of physical meaning of the observations. The combination of empirical mode decompo- sition （EMD） and Hilbert transform has been used for extracting the various contributing oscillatory modes （EMDs） and the instantaneous frequency determination （Hilbert transform） of every physically meaningful mode called intrinsic mode func- tion （IMF）. The resulting instantaneous frequencies are used to determine instantaneous wave vectors. The combination of the instantaneous frequencies and wave vectors is useful in the identification of wave modes based on the characteristics of the waves. The results show that EMD-Hilbert can be more reliable than simple Hilbert transform alone.