An observational study of MHD wave-induced density fluctuations upstream of the earth's bow shock

Details An observational study of MHD wave-induced density fluctuations upstream of the earth's bow shock An observational study of MHD wave-induced density fluctuations upstream of the earth's bow shock

Feb 1988

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1988jgr....93..845s&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol. 93, Feb. 1, 1988, p. 845-857.

Physics

38

Bow Waves, Earth Atmosphere, Magnetohydrodynamic Waves, Plasma Density, Shock Waves, Polarization Characteristics, Ponderomotive Forces, Power Spectra, Wave Packets

Scientific paper

An investigation of plasma density fluctations upstream of the earth's bow shock and their association with MHD waves is reported. The normalized density fluctuation was 14 percent on a day when the plasma beta was less than unity and the waves were circularly polarized and of relatively low amplitude, and 17 percent on a day when the plasma beta was in excess of unity and the waves were elliptically polarized and of large fractional amplitude. On both days there was a feature of the density power spectrum at the MHD carrier wave frequency attributable to oblique propagation of the waves with propagation angles of a few degrees with respect to the mean field. Ponderomotive effects due to spatial gradient in the MHD wave energy density are proposed as responsible for a correlation betweeen density and transverse wave intensity on both days. Generation of density fluctuations by linear polarized MHD waves is not an important contributor to the observed density fluctuations.

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