The Trans-Heliospheric Survey

CONTEXT: Though the solar wind is characterized by spatial and temporal variability across a wide range of scales, long-term averages of in situ measurements have revealed clear radial trends: changes in average values of basic plasma parameters (e.g., density, temperature, and speed) and a magnetic field with a distance from the Sun. AIMS: To establish our current understanding of the solar wind's average expansion through the heliosphere, data from multiple spacecraft needed to be combined and standardized into a single dataset. METHODS: In this study, data from twelve heliospheric and planetary spacecraft - Parker Solar Probe (PSP), Helios 1 and 2, Mariner 2 and 10, Ulysses, Cassini, Pioneer 10 and 11, New Horizons, and Voyager 1 and 2 - were compiled into a dataset spanning over three orders of magnitude in heliocentric distance. To avoid introducing artifacts into this composite dataset, special attention was given to the solar cycle, spacecraft heliocentric elevation, and instrument calibration. RESULTS: The radial trend in each parameter was found to be generally well described by a power-law fit, though up to two break points were identified in each fit. CONCLUSIONS: These radial trends are publicly released here to benefit research groups in the validation of global heliospheric simulations and in the development of new deep-space missions such as Interstellar Probe

Interplay of Turbulence and Proton-Microinstability Growth in Space Plasmas

Both kinetic instabilities and strong turbulence have potential to impact the behavior of space plasmas. To assess effects of these two processes we compare results from a 3 dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation of collisionless plasma turbulence against observations by the MMS spacecraft in the terrestrial magnetosheath and by the Wind spacecraft in the solar wind. The simulation develops coherent structures and anisotropic ion velocity distributions that can drive micro-instabilities. Temperature-anisotropy driven instability growth rates are compared with inverse nonlinear turbulence time scales. Large growth rates occur near coherent structures; nevertheless linear growth rates are, on average, substantially less than the corresponding nonlinear rates. This result casts some doubt on the usual basis for employing linear instability theory, and raises questions as to why the linear theory appears to work in limiting plasma excursions in anisotropy and plasma beta.Comment: Under revie

Estimating the subsolar magnetopause position from soft X-ray images using a low-pass image filter

The Lunar Environment heliospheric X-ray Imager (LEXI) and Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) missions will image the Earth’s dayside magnetopause and cusps in soft X-rays after their respective launches in the near future, to specify global magnetic reconnection modes for varying solar wind conditions. To support the success of these scientific missions, it is critical to develop techniques that extract the magnetopause locations from the observed soft X-ray images. In this research, we introduce a new geometric equation that calculates the subsolar magnetopause position (\begin{document}${R}_{\mathrm{s}}$\end{document}) from a satellite position, the look direction of the instrument, and the angle at which the X-ray emission is maximized. Two assumptions are used in this method: (1) The look direction where soft X-ray emissions are maximized lies tangent to the magnetopause, and (2) the magnetopause surface near the subsolar point is almost spherical and thus \begin{document}${R}_{\mathrm{s}}$\end{document} is nearly equal to the radius of the magnetopause curvature. We create synthetic soft X-ray images by using the Open Geospace General Circulation Model (OpenGGCM) global magnetohydrodynamic model, the galactic background, the instrument point spread function, and Poisson noise. We then apply the fast Fourier transform and Gaussian low-pass filters to the synthetic images to remove noise and obtain accurate look angles for the soft X-ray peaks. From the filtered images, we calculate \begin{document}${R}_{\mathrm{s}}$\end{document} and its accuracy for different LEXI locations, look directions, and solar wind densities by using the OpenGGCM subsolar magnetopause location as ground truth. Our method estimates \begin{document}${R}_{\mathrm{s}}$\end{document} with an accuracy of \begin{document}${10\;\mathrm{c}\mathrm{m}}^{-3}$\end{document}. The accuracy improves for greater solar wind densities and during southward interplanetary magnetic fields. The method captures the magnetopause motion during southward interplanetary magnetic field turnings. Consequently, the technique will enable quantitative analysis of the magnetopause motion and help reveal the dayside reconnection modes for dynamic solar wind conditions. This technique will support the LEXI and SMILE missions in achieving their scientific objectives

MagneToRE: Mapping the 3-D Magnetic Structure of the Solar Wind Using a Large Constellation of Nanosatellites

Unlike the vast majority of astrophysical plasmas, the solar wind is accessible to spacecraft, which for decades have carried in-situ instruments for directly measuring its particles and fields. Though such measurements provide precise and detailed information, a single spacecraft on its own cannot disentangle spatial and temporal fluctuations. Even a modest constellation of in-situ spacecraft, though capable of characterizing fluctuations at one or more scales, cannot fully determine the plasma’s 3-D structure. We describe here a concept for a new mission, the Magnetic Topology Reconstruction Explorer (MagneToRE), that would comprise a large constellation of in-situ spacecraft and would, for the first time, enable 3-D maps to be reconstructed of the solar wind’s dynamic magnetic structure. Each of these nanosatellites would be based on the CubeSat form-factor and carry a compact fluxgate magnetometer. A larger spacecraft would deploy these smaller ones and also serve as their telemetry link to the ground and as a host for ancillary scientific instruments. Such an ambitious mission would be feasible under typical funding constraints thanks to advances in the miniaturization of spacecraft and instruments and breakthroughs in data science and machine learning

A comparative study of reconnection X-line predictions on dayside magnetopause of Earth

Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental plasma process of key importance to several fields. Reconnection at Earth’s magnetopause drives magnetospheric convection and provides mass and energy input into the magnetosphere/ionosphere system. Despite this importance, the factors governing the location of dayside magnetopause reconnection are not well understood. Though a few models can predict X-line locations reasonably well the underlying physics is still unresolved. In this study we present results from an intensive analysis of several reconnection regions observed by MMS to determine what quantities are most strongly associated with the occurrence of dayside magnetopause reconnection. We also attempt to answer under what upstream conditions are global X-line models least reliable

The Trans-Heliospheric Survey

Context. Though the solar wind is characterized by spatial and temporal variability across a wide range of scales, long-term averages of in situ measurements have revealed clear radial trends: changes in average values of basic plasma parameters (e.g., density, temperature, and speed) and a magnetic field with a distance from the Sun. Aims. To establish our current understanding of the solar wind's average expansion through the heliosphere, data from multiple spacecraft needed to be combined and standardized into a single dataset. Methods. In this study, data from twelve heliospheric and planetary spacecraft - Parker Solar Probe (PSP), Helios 1 and 2, Mariner 2 and 10, Ulysses, Cassini, Pioneer 10 and 11, New Horizons, and Voyager 1 and 2 - were compiled into a dataset spanning over three orders of magnitude in heliocentric distance. To avoid introducing artifacts into this composite dataset, special attention was given to the solar cycle, spacecraft heliocentric elevation, and instrument calibration. Results. The radial trend in each parameter was found to be generally well described by a power-law fit, though up to two break points were identified in each fit. Conclusions. These radial trends are publicly released here to benefit research groups in the validation of global heliospheric simulations and in the development of new deep-space missions such as Interstellar Probe

CSSI Framework: An open source software ecosystem for plasma physics

The mission of the PlasmaPy project is to foster the creation of a fully open source software ecosystem for plasma research and education. The PlasmaPy package is being developed to include the common core functionality needed by plasma physicists across disciplines. The functionality includes object-oriented representations of particles, a subpackage with commonly needed plasma formulae, wave dispersion relationship solvers, and tools to analyze laboratory plasma diagnostics. We will describe PlasmaPy's current capabilities, as well as the challenges associated with advocating for open science in the plasma physics community.</p

Magnetic Field Intermittency in the Solar Wind: Parker Solar Probe and SolO Observations Ranging from the Alfvén Region up to 1 AU

International audienceParker Solar Probe (PSP) and SolO data are utilized to investigate magnetic field intermittency in the solar wind (SW). Small-scale intermittency (20-100 d i ) is observed to radially strengthen when methods relying on higher-order moments are considered (SF q ; SDK), but no clear trend is observed at larger scales. However, lower-order moment-based methods (e.g., partial variance of increments; PVI) are deemed more appropriate for examining the evolution of the bulk of coherent structures (CSs), PVI ≥ 3. Using PVI, we observe a scale-dependent evolution in the fraction of the data set occupied by CSs, f PVI≥3. Specifically, regardless of the SW speed, a subtle increase is found in f PVI≥3 for ℓ = 20 d i , in contrast to a more pronounced radial increase in CSs observed at larger scales. Intermittency is investigated in relation to plasma parameters. Though, slower SW speed intervals exhibit higher f PVI≥6 and higher kurtosis maxima, no statistical differences are observed for f PVI≥3. Highly Alfvénic intervals display lower levels of intermittency. The anisotropy with respect to the angle between the magnetic field and SW flow, ΘVB is investigated. Intermittency is weaker at ΘVB ≍ 0° and is strengthened at larger angles. Considering the evolution at a constant alignment angle, a weakening of intermittency is observed with increasing advection time of the SW. Our results indicate that the strengthening of intermittency in the inner heliosphere is driven by the increase in comparatively highly intermittent perpendicular intervals sampled by the probes with increasing distance, an effect related directly to the evolution of the Parker spiral

Proton Temperature Anisotropy Variations in Inner Heliosphere Estimated with the First Parker Solar Probe Observations

International audienceWe present a technique for deriving the temperature anisotropy of solar wind protons observed by the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) mission in the near-Sun solar wind. The radial proton temperature measured by the Solar Wind Electrons, Alphas, and Protons (SWEAP) Solar Probe Cup is compared with the orientation of local magnetic field measured by the FIELDS fluxgate magnetometer, and the proton temperatures parallel and perpendicular to the magnetic field are extracted. This procedure is applied to different data products, and the results are compared and optimum timescales for data selection and trends in the uncertainty in the method are identified. We find that the moment-based proton temperature anisotropy is more physically consistent with the expected limits of the mirror and firehose instabilities, possibly because the nonlinear fits do not capture a significant non-Maxwellian shape to the proton velocity distribution function near the Sun. The proton beam has a small effect on total proton temperature anisotropy owing to its much smaller density relative to the core compared to what was seen by previous spacecraft farther from the Sun. Several radial trends in the temperature components and the variation of the anisotropy with parallel plasma beta are presented. Our results suggest that we may see stronger anisotropic heating as PSP moves closer to the Sun, and that a careful treatment of the shape of the proton distribution may be needed to correctly describe the temperature