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Tsurutani, B. T.

Publications and source records attributed to Tsurutani, B. T..

At least 199 records · Page 11
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1992

The magnetic field investigation on the Ulysses mission - Instrumentation and preliminary scientific results

A fundamental feature of the heliosphere is the three-dimensional structure of the interplanetary magnetic field. The magnetic field investigation on Ulysses, the first space probe to explore the out-of-ecliptic and polar heliosphere, aims at determining the large-scale features and gradients of the field, as well as the heliolatitude dependence of interplanetary phenomena so far only observed near the ecliptic plane. The Ulysses magnetometer uses two sensors, one a Vector Helium Magnetometer, the other a Fluxgate Magnetometer. Onboard data processing yields measurements of the magnetic field vector with a time resolution up to 2 vectors/second and a sensitivity of about 10 pT. Since the switch-on of the instrument in flight on 25 October 1990, a steady stream of observations has been made, indicating that at this phase of the solar cycle the field is generally disturbed: several shock waves and a large number of discontinuities have been observed, as well as several periods with apparently intense wave activity. The paper gives a brief summary of the scientific objectives of the investigation, followed by a detailed description of the instrument and its characteristics. Examples of wave bursts, interplanetary shocks and crossings of the heliospheric current sheet are given to illustrate the observations made with the instrument.

Balogh, A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Possible wave amplitudes in shocks in the solar corona - Predictions for Solar Probe

Terrestrial shock measurements are scaled to coronal parameters to demonstrate the need for improvements for the Solar Probe instrumentation. A model of coronal shock is presented to estimate corresponding shock parameters, and a comparison is made with ISEE 3 crossings to examine terrestrial bow shock and wave activity downstream. The turbulence in the magnetosheath is scaled to predict the specific range of amplitudes and frequencies of wave regions that the Solar Probe can encounter. The high velocity of the spacecraft at perihelion constrains the potential application of present instrumentation. In order to properly characterize the coronal shocks the Solar Probe requires instrumentation that can detect shock-generated Alfven waves Doppler-shifted to frequencies of a few kHz.

Moses, S. L.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Weak, quasiparallel profiles of earth's bow shock - A comparison between numerical simulations and ISEE 3 observations on the far flank

Over 200 crossings of the distant downwind flanks of earth's magnetosonic bow shock by ISEE 3 included many cases of weak, or low Mach number, quasi-parallel shocks. A consistent feature of the magnetic field profiles was the presence of large amplitude, near periodic to irregular transverse oscillations downstream from even the weakest Q-parallel shocks. Large downstream perturbations with whistler-like features similar to those of the observations appear in 1D simulations when the Alfven Mach number M(A) is greater than 2.5 but not when M(A) = 2.1. The observed cases with downstream waves also occurred when M(A) is greater than about 2.5, suggesting the importance of the Alfven as opposed to magnetosonic Mach number in determining the signature of weak, Q-parallel shocks.

Greenstadt, E. W.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Wave mode identification of electrostatic noise observed with ISEE 3 in the deep tail boundary layer

The characteristics of the VLF electrostatic noise observed with ISEE 3 in the low-latitude boundary layer of distant geomagnetic tail are examined using a display format for the wave dynamic spectra different from that used by Scarf et al. (1984). It is shown that the observed noise is composed of impulsive bursts. The results of the detailed analysis of the noise parameters are used to develop a model of plasma wave behavior in the plasma rest frame. A hypothesis is proposed that the wide frequency extent of the noise spectra is composed of Doppler effects of waves propagating nearly omnidirectionally within the plasma rest frame, which is moving with the electron bulk speed. On the basis of this hypothesis, the wavelength of the observed waves were determined from the width of the frequency extent and the measured electron bulk speed. It is shown that the wavelength ranges from 2 to 8 times the plasma Debye length.

Tsutsui, M.↗
NASA NTRS1991

The interaction of a very large interplanetary magnetic cloud with the magnetosphere and with cosmic rays

The observation of one of the largest magnetic clouds ever observed at a distance of 1 AU, with a diameter of greater than about 0.4 AU, is reported. The cloud is shown to be almost unchanged structurally by interaction with the earth bow shock. The first observations are reported of an auroral activity response to the passage of a magnetic cloud, with a nearly immediate increase in auroral activity when the IMF theta(B) angle reversed polarity to negative near the cloud center. The results provide strong evidence that turbulent magnetic fields behind interplanetary shocks are a possible cause of Forbush decreases, but contest the idea that relatively smooth, strong fields in clouds are a cause of such decreases. The cloud field modeling supports the existence of magnetic force-free fields in describing cloud structure.

Lepping, R. P.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Theory and observation of energetic ions in the lobes of the geomagnetic tail

The Owen et al. (1990) model, which attempts to explain the nature of the pitch angle distributions of energetic ions within the lobes of the distant geomagnetic tail is briefly reviewed. Energetic ion data from the ISEE-3 spacecraft obtained during early 1983, when the spacecraft made several traversals of the distant geomagnetic tail are then presented. The data demonstrate that during quiet periods in which the spacecraft is continuously located in the tail lobes, the pitch angle distribution is observed to be highly anisotropic, being peaked closely perpendicular to the magnetic field direction, but with a small net flow in the antisunward direction, in agreement with the model results. Further predictions of the model, concerning the variation of the lobe energetic ion distributions with position in the lobes, are compared to observations made as the spacecraft performed a traversal of the lobe. Finally, since the model indicates that a more isotropic distribution should exist in the tail lobe during solar particle events, data is presented from such a period for further comparison. In all the above cases, good agreement is demonstrated between the data and the expections of the model.

Owen, C. J.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Cometary water-group ions in the region surrounding Comet Giacobini-Zinner - Distribution functions and bulk parameter estimates

The bulk parameters (number density and thermal energy density) of cometary water-group ions in the region surrounding Comet Giacobini-Zinner have been derived using data from the EPAS instrument on the ICE spacecraft. The derivation is based on the assumption that the pick-up ion distribution function is isotropic in the frame of the bulk flow, an approximation which has previously been shown to be reasonable within about 400,000 km of the comet nucleus along the spacecraft trajectory. The transition between the pick-up and mass-loaded regions occurs at the cometary shock, which was traversed at a cometocentric distance of about 100,000 km along the spacecraft track. Examination of the ion distribution functions in this region, transformed to the bulk flow frame, indicates the occurrence of a flattened distribution in the vicinity of the local pick-up speed, and a steeply falling tail at speeds above, which may be approximated as an exponential in ion speed.

Staines, K.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Comparison of magnetosonic wave and water group ion energy densities at Comet Giacobini-Zinner

Measurements of the Comet Giacobini-Zinner (GZ) are presented to determine to what extent wave-particle scattering redistributed the initial pick-up energy of the ion population. Also examined is the difference between the ion thermal energy and the energy in the magnetic fields of the waves. In spite of uncertainty of about a factor of 2 noted in the pick-up and mass-loaded regions, it is shown that less than approximately 50 percent of the pick-up energy is converted into wave magnetic energy in the inbound pick-up region.

Staines, K.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Plasma waves in the distant geomagnetic tail - ISEE 3

The plasma wave measurements obtained during ISEE 3's deep passes through the geomagnetic tail found that moderate to intense electric field turbulence occurred in association with the major plasma and magnetic field regions and flow phenomena. In the magnetopause boundary layer the electric field spectral amplitudes are typically sharply peaked at 316 Hz to 562 Hz. The tail lobe region which is upstream of slow shocks and is magnetically connected to the plasma sheet is characterized by wave spectras that peak in the 100- to 316-Hz range and at the electron plasma frequency. Within the plasma sheet, broadband electrostatic noise occurs in regions where the magnetic field strength exceeds 2 nT; this noise can also be found in the plasma sheet boundary layer in association with strong field-aligned plasma flows. As ISEE 3 moved between the different distant tail regions, distinct but often subtle changes occurred in the plasma wave spectra.

Coroniti, F. V.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Comment on the polarity of magnetic clouds

The initial description of magnetic clouds by Klein and Burlaga (1982) and the models that have been developed for their representation (e.g., by Goldstein, 1983) are examined. The results show that a definition of the cloud's polarity only in terms of the Bz component of the IMF is not always correct. It is suggested that, for the description polarities of quasi-transverse and quasi-parallel clouds, a combination of directions in the Bz and By components of the IMF should be used.

Gonzalez, W. D.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Dual-peak solar cycle distribution of intense geomagnetic storms

This paper studies the features of the solar cycle distribution of intense storms (Dst) during cycles 20 and 21 (1965-1985). For these cycles, the distribution of intense storms (including moderate events for this time interval) in terms of Dst values below -50 nT, showed a dual-peak distribution, providing evidence for another enhancement of the intense storm distribution at the late ascending phase of the cycle. The origin of the dual-peak distribution of intense storms is associated with a similar dual-peak distribution obtained for large-amplitude and long-duration values of the negative Bz component of the IMF, computed for the interval 1970-1981.

Gonzalez, W. D.↗
NASA NTRS1990

The Solar Probe mission

The Solar Probe will deliver a 133.5 kg science payload into a 4 R(S) perihelion solar polar orbit to explore in situ one of the last frontiers in the solar system - the solar corona. Using a payload of 12 scientific experiments, it will be possible to answer many long-standing fundamental problems concerning the structure and dynamics of the outer solar atmosphere, including the acceleration, storage, and transport of energetic particles near the sun and in the inner heliosphere.

Anderson, J.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Substorms, plasmoids, flux robes, and magnetotail flux loss on March 25, 1983 - CDAW-8

During a 9-hour period following a storm-sudden commencement, six spacecraft near geosynchronous orbit, one over the pole, and three in the mgnetotail, monitored a complex sequence of magnetospheric variations. Magnetic field compressions associated with the sudden commencement were seen first by the near-earth spacecraft and subsequently by the three down-tail spacecraft with increasing time delays that were consistent with the tailward movement of an interplanetary-shock-associated pressure enhancement. Ground magnetograms and synchronous orbit data are used to identify 7 substorm intensifications during this geomagnetically active period. Six of these intensifications are clearly associated with tail lobe field decreases about 18 R sub E behind the earth. Four of these intensifications are followed by both Bz field increases in the tail lobes at about 18 and about 30 R sub E and by the subsequent observation of rapidly flowing plasma sheet plasma at ISEE 3 about 110 R sub E down the tail. During two substorms where DE 1 was optically observing the auroral oval, the area of the polar cap was observed to decrease as the tail lobe field decreased at 18 R sub E. All these observations are consistent with the substorm associated release of a plasmoid at a neutral line near 20 R sub E.

Fairfield, D. H.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Slow shock characteristics as a function of distance from the X-line in the magnetotail

Both particle and MHD simulations are performed to study the characteristics of slow shocks in the magnetotail. The particle simulations indicate that switch-off shocks exhibit large amplitude rotational wave trains, while magnetotail slow shocks with an intermediate Mach number M(An) less than M(c) of about 0.98 do not display such rotational wave trains. The MHD simulations show that the spontaneous reconnection process in the near-earth plasma sheet leads to the formation of a pair of slow shocks tailward of the reconnection line (X-line). The properties of slow shocks are found to vary as a function of the distance from X-line due to the formation of plasmoid. Slow shocks in most regions of magnetotail are found to be nonswitch-off shocks with M(An) of less than 0.98. The present results are used to discuss the lack of large amplitude rotational wave trains at slow shocks in the deep magnetotail.

Lee, L. C.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Comment on 'Large-scale response of the magnetosphere to a southward turning of the interplanetary magnetic field' by J. A. Sauvaud et al.

A study by Sauvaud et al. (1987) on the overall magnetospheric response to a southward turning of the IMF on March 4, 1979 is discussed. Because the coupling function epsilon for the most intense substorm in their study did not show any appreciable intensification prior to the occurrence of the substorm, Sauvaud et al. concluded that the substorm was driven by a magnetospheric reservoir. It is suggested that the coupling function epsilon does not necessarily well represent the magnetospheric energization due to possible combinations of solar wind parameters that are expected to influence the coupling. Therefore, it is concluded that the main substorm studied by Sauvaud et al. was probably driven by the solar wind.

Gonzalez, W. D.↗