ESA Guest Investigator
This is one of the five accepted Ulysses ESA Guest Investigator proposals which involves collaboration with the magnetometer team.
A study of turbulent heliospheric processes
Dr. Tim Horbury
Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of London
Abstract
The Ulysses spacecraft, with a mission to explore conditions over the poles
of the Sun, has provided the opportunity to study fluctuations in the solar
wind and magnetic field in a radically different environment to that at low
heliolatitudes. Previous work by the applicant, in conjunction with the
Ulysses magnetometer team, has used magnetic field data to demonstrate the
character and evolution of turbulent fluctuations at high heliolatitudes
and the similarities and differences to those closer to the ecliptic.
There is a clear need to extend this analysis to the plasma data and indeed
to combine the magnetic field and plasma data sets to provide more
information about the fluctuations. This Proposal is based on such an
analysis, which would concentrate on the stream, latitude and distance
variations and other properties of turbulent fluctuations, rather than the
lower frequency Alfvenic fluctuations which have been studied by other
groups. For such an analysis, a variety of techniques would be used,
including Fourier-based, structure functions and wavelets. Fourier-based
studies of helispheric turbulent fluctuations are common; structure
functions have been used more recently, to analyse Ulysses magnetic field
data amongst others; while applications of wavelets to helispheric
turbulence is an emerging topic which promises advances in the
understanding of this important universal process in a magnetohydrodynamic
fluid.
Address
The Blackett Laboratory
Imperial College
Prince Consort Road
London SW7 2BZ
United Kingdon
Email: t.horbury@ic.ac.uk
Tel: +44 171 594 7778
Fax: +44 171 594 7772
WWW: http://www.sp.ph.ic.ac.uk
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Last changed 29th May 1997 by Tim Horbury.