SHINE: Eulerian Decorrelation Functions Derived from Multispacecraft Observations of Interplanetary Magnetic Field Fluctuations

University Of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

As the scientific motivation for this project, the Principal Investigator (PI) explains that the magnetic Eulerian Correlation Function (ECF) is a measure of the temporal decorrelation of particle transport in the solar wind due to interplanetary magnetic field fluctuations, and he notes that the ECF is directly invoked in particle scattering theory, as well as in fundamental turbulence theory, dynamo theory, and plasma physics. In order to provide accurate observations of solar wind decorrelation functions for space physics modelers who rely heavily on ECF estimates, the PI will provide observationally based measurements of ECF parameters for magnetic field fluctuations in both the slow and fast solar wind, using data from multiple spacecraft. This study will address questions concerning how the ECF varies with solar wind speed and the role that turbulence geometry plays in how the ECF varies with respect to the mean magnetic field. The answers to these questions will, for the first time, provide detailed scale-dependent constraints on theoretical models relevant to solar wind turbulence and cosmic ray transport. Better knowledge of the ECF will also provide better estimates of the temporal ranges over which solar wind propagation can be reliably simulated. These results will have beneficial applications to space weather forecasting, and will contribute to enhanced planning and data analysis for observations from NASA's future "Solar Probe" spacecraft. These findings will also benefit ongoing studies of interplanetary magnetic field turbulence which are applicable to a much more extensive range of astrophysical and space research topics than this effort alone addresses. This research project will also support one undergraduate summer student. The PI will disseminate his research findings to the community at international meetings, in conference presentations, and in journal publications.