Directly comparing coronal and solar wind elemental fractionation

As the solar wind propagates through the heliosphere, dynamical processes irreversibly erase the signatures of the near-Sun heating and acceleration processes. The elemental fractionation of the solar wind should not change during transit however, making it an ideal tracer of these processes. We aimed to verify directly if the solar wind elemental fractionation is reflective of the coronal source region fractionation, both within and across different solar wind source regions. A backmapping scheme was used to predict where solar wind measured by the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) originated in the corona. The coronal composition measured by the Hinode Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) at the source regions was then compared with the in-situ solar wind composition. On hourly timescales there was no apparent correlation between coronal and solar wind composition. In contrast, the distribution of fractionation values within individual source regions was similar in both the corona and solar wind, but distributions between different sources have significant overlap. The matching distributions directly verifies that elemental composition is conserved as the plasma travels from the corona to the solar wind, further validating it as a tracer of heating and acceleration processes. The overlap of fractionation values between sources means it is not possible to identify solar wind source regions solely by comparing solar wind and coronal composition measurements, but a comparison can be used to verify consistency with predicted spacecraft-corona connections.Comment: Accepted version; 8 pages, 7 figure

Radial evolution of the solar wind in pure high-speed streams: HELIOS revised observations

Spacecraft observations have shown that the proton temperature in the solar wind falls off with radial distance more slowly than expected for an adiabatic prediction. Usually, previous studies have been focused on the evolution of the solar-wind plasma by using the bulk speed as an order parameter to discriminate different regimes. In contrast, here, we study the radial evolution of pure and homogeneous fast streams (i.e. well-defined streams of coronal-hole plasma that maintain their identity during several solar rotations) by means of re-processed particle data, from the HELIOS satellites between 0.3 and 1 au. We have identified 16 intervals of unperturbed high-speed coronal-hole plasma, from three different sources and measured at different radial distances. The observations show that, for all three streams, (i) the proton density decreases as expected for a radially expanding plasma, unlike previous analysis that found a slower decrease; (ii) the magnetic field deviates from the Parker prediction, with the radial component decreasing more slowly and the tangential more quickly than expected; (iii) the double-adiabatic invariants are violated and an increase of entropy is observed; (iv) the collisional frequency is not constant, but decreases as the plasma travels away from the Sun. This work provides an insight into the heating problem in pure fast solar wind, fitting in the context of the next solar missions, and, especially for Parker Solar Probe, it enables us to predict the high-speed solar-wind environment much closer to the Sun

Alpha particle thermodynamics in the inner heliosphere fast solar wind

Context. Plasma processes occurring in the corona and solar wind can be probed by studying the thermodynamic properties of different ion species. However, most in-situ observations of positive ions in the solar wind are taken at 1 AU, where information on their solar source properties may have been irreversibly erased. Aims. In this study we aimed to use the properties of alpha particles at heliocentric distances between 0.3 and 1 AU to study plasma processes occurring at the points of observation, and to infer processes occurring inside 0.3 AU by comparing our results to previous remote sensing observations of the plasma closer to the Sun. Methods. We reprocessed the original Helios positive ion distribution functions, isolated the alpha particle population, and computed the alpha particle number density, velocity, and magnetic field perpendicular and parallel temperatures. We then investigated the radial variation of alpha particle temperatures in fast solar wind observed between 0.3 and 1 AU. Results. Between 0.3 and 1 AU alpha particles are heated in the magnetic field perpendicular direction, and cooled in the magnetic field parallel direction. Alpha particle evolution is bounded by the alpha firehose instability threshold, which provides one possible mechanism to explain the observed parallel cooling and perpendicular heating. Closer to the Sun our observations suggest that the alpha particles undergo heating in the perpendicular direction, whilst the large magnetic field parallel temperatures observed at 0.3 AU may be due to the combined effect of double adiabatic expansion and alpha particle deceleration inside 0.3 AU

2-D numerical modeling of rapidly varying shallow water flows by Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics technique

River engineeringNumerical modelling in river engineerin

Boussinesq modelling of tsunami and storm wave impact

Many coastal protection structures in the UK have been designed for storm surges with appropriate return periods, but their performance during tsunami-type waves is uncertain. A shallow water and Boussinesq model is well suited to the investigation of both near-shore storm waves and tsunami waves. This paper makes use of the model to compare the effect on coastal structures of solitary waves and storm waves. Wave run-up parameters for both types of wave are generated and shown to be in good agreement with experimental data. The equations behind the model were derived assuming a small bed slope and therefore are not suitable for modelling waves interacting with vertical and near-vertical structures. However, the introduction of a reverse momentum term, to take account of a jet of water typical of a breaking wave impacting against a structure, allows wave overtopping volumes to be well predicted, although it had a minor effect on the forces acting on the structure. Comparisons with experimental data, for both solitary waves and storm waves, are presented. Using this model, the difference between the impact, in terms of wave forces and wave overtopping, of tsunami waves and storm waves for a given structure is investigated. </jats:p