NSWP: Multiscale Study of Magnetic Field-Line and Energetic Particle Dispersal in the Turbulent Solar Wind

Helio Research, La Crescenta CA

Investigators

Abstract

The Principal Investigator will develop a realistic description of the dynamics of charged energetic particles in turbulent fields typical of the solar wind between the Sun and 1AU, including all intermediate non-resonant scales. She intends to model magnetic field-line (MFL) transport and dispersion on a very broad range of size scales, as well as investigate the pitch-angle scattering and dispersal of particles in those fields. Using data from the ACE and Wind spacecraft, the PI plans a detailed analysis of solar flare particle-intensity time profiles to search for direct observational clues about solar wind field-line wandering and particle scattering, and to test innovative theoretical and numerical models. She will simulate wandering MFLs and particle trajectories in the turbulent SW in order to quantify the effects on drifts and pure particle scattering across and along MFLs, particle transport, MFL cross-field displacement, and MFL separation. This multi-scale study of MFL and energetic particle dispersal in the turbulent solar wind is crucial to the prediction of solar energetic particle (SEP) intensities at Earth and therefore addresses the goals of the National Space Weather Program. SEPs pose major threats to satellite operations, communications, and astronauts in space. Beyond space physics and space weather forecasting, the transport of particles in turbulent magnetic fields is fundamental to research in astrophysics and plasma physics.