“Persistence” in Solar Wind Fluctuations: A Virtual Observatory Assisted Study

The solar wind contains “fluctuations”--defined as any deviations from a uniform Parker spiral--that are very likely imprinted at the Sun, as well as others that are the result of nonlinear, often turbulent, processes. Near solar minimum, many features persist for times as long as several solar rotations. While this is well known and expected for quantities such as solar wind speed, where streams recur, we have found that at times unexpected quantities such as the normal component of the magnetic field show remarkable persistence from one solar rotation to the next. To study this phenomenon, which will have consequences for what we consider to be turbulent fluctuations and on the predictability of solar wind input to the Earth, we have used data from STEREO, ACE, WIND, and many other spacecraft to see what quantities persist and on what time scales. This preliminary investigation has been considerably aided by the easy access to data provided by Heliophysics Virtual Observatories (especially VSPO) and their links to CDAWeb, OMNIWeb, and other tools. This talk will illustrate the advantages of the various tools that now exist in the Heliophysics Data Environment, and indicate some areas where advances are still needed to fix existing problems.