Physics – Plasma Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011agufmsh43c1959m&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2011, abstract #SH43C-1959
Physics
Plasma Physics
[2109] Interplanetary Physics / Discontinuities, [2164] Interplanetary Physics / Solar Wind Plasma, [7811] Space Plasma Physics / Discontinuities, [7863] Space Plasma Physics / Turbulence
Scientific paper
The variable separation between the STEREO-A (STA) and STEREO-B (STB) spacecraft early in their mission presents a unique opportunity to study thin current sheets in the solar wind at length scales ranging from 0.1 to 2,000 Earth radii (Re). An automated algorithm was developed to detect the magnetic field directional discontinuities indicative of thin current sheets in the solar wind. Using data from December 2006 through March 2007, over 30,000 current sheets per spacecraft were found. An automated algorithm was also developed to identify the subset of current sheets that propagate between STA and STB. The geometry and length scales of current sheets propagating between STA and STB were inferred from magnetic field and solar wind velocity vectors. Analysis of the identified current sheets shows that: 1) Current sheets observed by STA-only or STB-only show distributions of spread angle, sheet orientation, and waiting time that agree well with previous studies. 2) Distributions of these same properties for current sheets observed by both STA and STB are significantly different from the single-spacecraft current sheet populations. 3) At 0.1 Re spacecraft separation, only half of current sheets observed by either spacecraft individually are observed at both spacecraft, and this fraction falls quickly with increasing separation. These observations indicate distinct populations of solar wind current sheet differentiated either by their rate of temporal evolution or spatial scale.
Gosling Jack T.
Malaspina D.
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