A GRAND CHALLENGE PROBLEM AT THE FOREFRONT OF HELIOPHYSICS IS TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE ENERGY OF TURBULENT PLASMA FLOWS AND ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS IS CONVERTED INTO ENERGY OF THE PLASMA PARTICLES EITHER AS HEAT OR SOME OTHER FORM OF PARTICLE ENERGIZATION. UNDER THE TYPICALLY LOW-DENSITY AND HIGH-TEMPERATURE CONDITIONS OF TURBULENT PLASMAS IN THE HELIOSPHERE AND PLANETARY MAGNETOSPHERES THE TURBULENT DYNAMICS IS WEAKLY COLLISIONAL REQUIRING THE APPLICATION OF SIX-DIMENSIONAL (3D-3V) KINETIC PLASMA THEORY TO FOLLOW THE EVOLUTION OF THE TURBULENCE WHERE ENERGY IS REMOVED FROM THE TURBULENT FLUCTUATIONS BY COLLISIONLESS INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS AND THE INDIVIDUAL PLASMA PARTICLES. THE PI HAS RECENTLY DEVISED THE FIELD-PARTICLE CORRELATION TECHNIQUE AN INNOVATIVE NEW METHOD FOR UNDERSTANDING THE ENERGIZATION OF PARTICLES DUE TO THESE COLLISIONLESS INTERACTIONS USING CORRELATIONS BETWEEN THE ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD AND PARTICLE VELOCITY DISTRIBUTION MEASUREMENTS. HERE WE PROPOSE A COORDINATED EFFORT OF ANALYTICAL THEORY IN KINETIC PLASMA PHYSICS NONLINEAR KINETIC NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS AND ANALYSIS OF ARTEMIS MAGNETOSPHERIC MULTISCALE (MMS) AND MAVEN SPACECRAFT OBSERVATIONS TO DETERMINE THE VELOCITY-SPACE SIGNATURES OF DIFFERENT PARTICLE ENERGIZATION MECHANISMS IN SPACE PLASMAS USING THE FIELD-PARTICLE CORRELATION TECHNIQUE AND TO USE THOSE SIGNATURES TO IDENTIFY THE PHYSICAL MECHANISMS GOVERNING THE REMOVAL OF ENERGY FROM TURBULENT FLUCTUATIONS AND THE CONSEQUENT ENERGIZATION OF THE PLASMA PARTICLES. THIS FIELD-PARTICLE CORRELATION METHOD FULLY UTILIZES SINGLE-POINT PARTICLE AND FIELD DATA FROM MODERN SPACECRAFT INSTRUMENTATION WITH THE POTENTIAL TO TRANSFORM OUR ABILITY TO DIAGNOSE DIRECTLY THE PLASMA HEATING AND PARTICLE ENERGIZATION RESULTING FROM THE DISSIPATION OF PLASMA TURBULENCE THEREBY ANSWERING FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PHYSICAL PROCESSES RESPONSIBLE FOR TURBULENT DISSIPATION AND PLASMA HEATING. THIS PROJECT DIRECTLY ADDRESSES THE HIGH-LEVEL SCIENCE GOAL OF THE 2013 NRC HELIOPHYSICS DECADAL SURVEY TO "UNDERSTAND THE FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICAL PROCESSES OF THE SPACE ENVIRONMENT FROM THE SUN TO EARTH TO OTHER PLANETS AND BEYOND TO THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM."
$210,790FY2020National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA
The University Of Iowa