Voyager Observations of the Turbulent Transport and Heating of the Solar Wind: 1 to 35 AU
Abstract
We adopt the theory for the turbulent transport of energy by solar wind fluctuations and apply that theory to observations by the Voyager 1 & 2 spacecraft to obtain rates of thermal proton heating that are controlled by the two sources: the large-scale fluctuations in the solar wind that arise from solar sources and the excitation of waves by newborn interstellar ions. In the process, we compute magnetic spectra for 545 data intervals spanning the range from 1 to 35 AU when thermal ion data is available and use those spectra to obtain independent estimates for the energy cascade rates at intermediate scales that we assume equals the rate of thermal proton heating by the turbulence. The rates of thermal proton heating by the turbulence as described by these three theories (transport theory, wave excitation by interstellar pickup ions, and the energy cascade at intermediate scales) are compared against each other and the overall rate of plasma heating.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFMSH53C3363S
- Keywords:
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- 7845 Particle acceleration;
- SPACE PLASMA PHYSICS;
- 7851 Shock waves;
- SPACE PLASMA PHYSICS;
- 7859 Transport processes;
- SPACE PLASMA PHYSICS;
- 7863 Turbulence;
- SPACE PLASMA PHYSICS