Correlations between enhanced electron temperatures and electric field wave power in the Martian ionosphere
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It has been recognized that plasma gradients can cause error in magnetospheric electric field measurements made by double probes. Space charge enhanced Plasma Gradient Induced Error (PGIE) is discussed in general terms, presenting the results of a laboratory experiment designed to demonstrate this error, and deriving a simple expression that quantifies this error. Experimental conditions were not identical to magnetospheric conditions, although efforts were made to insure the relevant physics applied to both cases. The experimental data demonstrate some of the possible errors in electric field measurements made by strongly emitting probes due to space charge effects in the presence of plasma gradients. Probe errors in space and laboratory conditions are discussed, as well as experimental error. In the final section, theoretical aspects are examined and an expression is derived for the maximum steady state space charge enhanced PGIE taken by two identical current biased probes.
The ICARTT (International Consortium for Atmospheric Research on Transport and Transformation) standards were developed to fulfill data management needs for the ICARTT campaign in 2004. The ICARTT file format is text-based and composed of a header with important data description information and the data section. The ICARTT format, built on the NASA Ames and GTE data formats, was created to facilitate data exchange and promote collaborations among the science teams for achieving the ICARTT campaign goals. Due to the success of the ICARTT campaign, the ICARTT file format was exposed to a broad range of airborne researchers and was adopted for use in many other field campaigns sponsored by NASA and other partner agencies. The ICARTT format standards became a NASA standard in 2010 and was amended in January 2017 providing many enhancements, including the requirement for variable standard names. Primarily designed for airborne field studies, ICARTT has been further utilized for ground-based studies. The ICARTT format can host metadata that is critical for proper use of the data, especially for in-situ measurements. However, the information that needs to be included is often in free text, meaning the information are human readable, but not machine interpretable. Furthermore, the amount and type of information provided can vary substantially between principal investigators and campaigns. To support interoperability and FAIR principles, further enhancements to the ICARTT standards are recommended. Possible recommendations include standardizing timestamps for easier data comparisons and analysis; potential use of controlled and consistent vocabulary for variable short name and certain common metadata elements; and providing guidance on variable measurement units and how they are reported.
Large electric field spikes of up to about 80 mV/m, at distances of seven to 23 earth radii, were detected within one minute of encountering the high-altitude plasma sheet boundary, as identified by energetic particle detectors. If these high-altitude events, whose strong electric fields occur in enhanced low-frequency turbulence and field-aligned current flow regions and are individually well-correlated with small-scale gradients in particle fluxes and small-scale currents, are mappings of the low-altitude electrostatic shocks, these data may be taken as evidence that poleward auroral field lines map to the boundary of the plasma sheet.
This paper provides an explicit illustration of the formation of tangential discontinuities (current sheets) in a force-free magnetic field whose footpoints have been subjected to bounded continuous displacement and shuffling so that the lines of force are wound about each other in complex but continuous patterns. The discontinuities appear spontaneously because of the reorientation of the field under the enhanced pressure where two regions of different field topology are pressed together by the general winding and wrapping.
In many previous studies, it has been assumed that the streamlines of the solar wind are in a purely radial direction beyond a few solar radii. Therefore, the nonradial modulations by the magnetic force and gas pressure is neglected at large heliocentric distances. The work reported in this paper includes a two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) study of the latitudinal structure of solar wind flows. The dynamical effects of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) are investigated by MHD solutions and by comparing them with both one-dimensional and two-dimensional hydrodynamic (HD) solutions. The corotational effect of the sun and the influence of transient events in the solar atmosphere are neglected. With such a simplification, the latitudinal structure of the steady solar wind is controlled by the dynamic balance of the magnetic force and the gas pressure. Several different patterns of the evolution of the solar wind latitudinal structure are exhibited in the calculation. The results indicate the existence of a proton number density maximum at the magnetic neutral line, whether or not there is a density maximum or minimum at the inner boundary. The drift motion of magnetic field lines toward the magnetic neutral line enhances the magnetic field strength around the neutral sheet, which may provide a possible explanation of the discrepancy between the measured IMF at 1 AU and that extrapolated from the photospheric magnetic field by the current source-surface modeling.
Solar flare observations are consistent with the phenomenological description that a loop of magnetic flux is convected to the surface of the star and twisted. The resulting inductive current parallel to the field is dissipated at an enhanced rate throughout the field volume by current limiting instabilities. The steady state balance between joule heating and thermal conduction along the field lines of force to the denser, cooler surface establishes a temperature distribution. The expansion of heated and ionized surface layers leads to a pressure balance and hence predictable density and X-ray emission measure. The current limitation instabilities result observationally in the parallel current being transferred to run-away ions that reach a kinetic energy of some finite fraction of the inductive potential drop. The nuclear excitation gamma rays produced by such a run-away ion current are calculated for a white dwarf flare.
High-temperature piezoelectrics are a key technology for aeronautics and aerospace applications such as fuel modulation to increase the engine efficiency and decrease emissions. The principal challenge for the insertion of piezoelectric materials is the limitation on upper use temperature which is due to low Curie-Temperature (TC) and increasing electrical conductivity. BiScO3-PbTiO3 (BS-PT) system is a promising candidate for improving the operating temperature for piezoelectric actuators due to its high TC (greater than 400 C). Bi2O3 was shown to be a good sintering aid for liquid phase sintering resulting in reduced grain size and increased resistivity. Zr doped and liquid phase sintered BS-PT ceramics exhibited saturated and square hysteresis loops with enhanced remenant polarization (37 microC per square centimeter) and coercive field (14 kV/cm). BS-PT doped with Mn showed enhanced field induced strain (0.27% at 50kV/cm). All the numbers indicated in parenthesis were collected at 100 C.
An examination of the magnetic field and plasma wave data obtained by the Pioneer Venus orbiter in the wake region behind Venus discloses a well developed bow shock whose location is similar to that observed on previous missions in contrast to the dayside bow shock. Venus also has a well developed magnetotail in which the field strenght is enhanced over magnetosheath values and in which the magnetic field is aligned approximately with the solar wind direction. The boundary between magnetosheath and magnetotail is also marked by a change in the plasma wave spectrum.
As part of the Advanced Subsonic Technology Program, a series of experiments was conducted at NASA Glenn Research Center on the effect of mixing enhancement devices on the aeroacoustic performance of separate flow nozzles. Initial acoustic evaluations of the devices showed that they reduced jet noise significantly, while creating very little thrust loss. The explanation for the improvement required that turbulence measurements, namely single point mean and RMS statistics and two-point spatial correlations, be made to determine the change in the turbulence caused by the mixing enhancement devices that lead to the noise reduction. These measurements were made in the summer of 2000 in a test program called Separate Nozzle Flow Test 2000 (SFNT2K) supported by the Aeropropulsion Research Program at NASA Glenn Research Center. Given the hot high-speed flows representative of a contemporary bypass ratio 5 turbofan engine, unsteady flow field measurements required the use of an optical measurement method. To achieve the spatial correlations, the Particle Image Velocimetry technique was employed, acquiring high-density velocity maps of the flows from which the required statistics could be derived. This was the first successful use of this technique for such flows, and shows the utility of this technique for future experimental programs. The extensive statistics obtained were likewise unique and give great insight into the turbulence which produces noise and how the turbulence can be modified to reduce jet noise.
Balloon-borne electric field and X ray detectors have been flown from Fort Churchill and from near the foot of the magnetic field line on which the ATS 5 satellite is located in order to obtain satellite and balloon measurements of trapped and precipitating particles and to compare them with balloon measurements of the ionospheric electric field. The approximately 80 hours of coordinated data show that nighttime precipitation events (1) are preceded by enhancements of the westward component of ionospheric electric field about 70% of the time, (2) cause the westward electric field strength to decrease about 70% of the time, (3) are unrelated to variations of the southward component of the ionospheric electric field. The westward electric field enhancement before many precipitation events occurs when the trapped electron flux is at or near the stable trapping limit.
The conceptual differences between the following two approaches used to measure spatial variations in steady-state acoustic pressure amplitude were examined: taking the cross spectrum between two signals from probes in the same field or taking the difference in complex Fourier transform of enhanced probe signals. Each approach is used to analyze pressure data from the inlets of two different turbomachines. A complete mapping of this steady-state field may then be used to determine its modal content. A problem with long term nonstationarity was found with both methods. Conditions for equivalence of the two methods are discussed.
Initial Pioneer Venus magnetometer observations reveal a highly dynamic interaction between the solar wind and the ionosphere and a very weak and possibly absent intrinsic magnetic field. The bow shock position and the altitude of the ionopause vary markedly from day to day. The magnetic pressure in the magnetosheath just outside the ionopause is in near balance with the thermal ionospheric pressure inside. Although the ionospheric magnetic field strength is generally low, occasional enhancements are observed with field strengths exceeding that in the magnetosheath. These bundles of magnetic flux, or flux ropes, may be convected to the night side ionosphere in which large field strengths (compared to the dayside) are common. The magnetic field magnitude and direction in this region are quite variable, suggesting that the field is not due to an intrinsic planetary source, but rather due to induced ionospheric currents. The magnetic moment is probably much less than 10 to the 22nd Gauss-cu cm.
Wind velocity profiles were obtained over alluvial plains, lava flows, and a cinder cone in the Mojave Desert to determine the wind shear and the potential for particle transport. It was found that aerodynamic roughness for winds increases nearly a factor of 5 as flow crosses from the alluvium to the lava surface, resulting in wind shear that is 21 percent greater. Thus, wind erosion and sand flux may be substantially enhanced over the lava field. Moreover, wind flow turbulence is enhanced in the wake of the cinder cone, which also increases erosion and sediment transportation by the wind.
Funding from NASA Grant No. NAG54679 was received in three installments. The first year's installment amounted to only one month of salary support and was used to prepare survey plots. The second year's installment allowed us to complete two research papers concerning the interaction of solar wind discontinuities with the Earth's bow shock. In the first (published) paper, we reported that the discontinuities launch slow mode waves into the magnetosheath and the slow mode waves always propagate antisunward through the flank magnetosheath. Because the sunward/antisunward sense of the magnetosheath magnetic field reverses across local noon, so does the (north/south or east/west) sense of the velocity fluctuations associated with the waves. Wind, Geotail, and IMP-8 observations were used for this study. In the second study, we used Wind and Interball-1 observations to demonstrate that pressure pulses in the magnetosheath occur in pairs and that they bound pressure cavities and/or brief intervals of outward magnetopause motion. This paper is now in press. Funding from the third year's installment has been used to investigate the two aspects of the foreshock. Two manuscripts are now in preparation for submission to the Journal of Geophysical Research. The first reports that waves within the foreshock account for many instances of poor correlations between two solar wind monitors. Remaining cases of poor correlation occur during intervals of nearly constant IMF orientations and magnetic field strengths. While the former category pose a significant difficulty for space weather forecasts, the latter do not. The second study surveys IMP-8 observations of the foreshock. We find that diamagnetic cavities are common, particularly during periods of high solar wind velocity and low solar wind density. Plasma densities, temperatures, and magnetic field strengths fall during intervals of enhanced energetic particle fluxes. The cavities are bounded by regions of decelerated solar wind plasma and enhanced densities and magnetic field strengths.
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Observational results from an investigation of LF (0.5-4.0 Hz) electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves and subauroral electron temperature enhancements recorded from the DE-2 satellite are presented. Four different wave events were analyzed, all recorded at magnetic latitudes from 57-60 deg, magnetic local times from 8-14 hr, and altitudes from 600-900 km. The peak wave amplitudes during the events ranged from 8-70 nT and 5-30 mV/m in the magnetic and electric field, respectively. Te enhancements at the time of the waves were observed in three of four events. A linear relationship between the wave magnetic field spectral density and Te enhancements was found for these events. The Te enhancements were also correlated with an enhanced flux of low energy electrons. During one event (82104) an enhanced flux of electrons were observed at energies up to 50 eV and at nearly all pitch angles, although the flux was largest in the precipitating and upflowing directions. It is suggested that the waves are responsible for heating the low energy electrons which precipitate to the ionosphere and produce the observed Te enhancements. The upflowing electron population appears to be heated at ionospheric altitudes, below the DE-2 satellite.
The study of magnetized plasmas in astrophysics is complicated by a number of factors, not the least of which is that in considering magnetic fields in stars or accretion disks, we are considering plasmas with densities well above those we can study in the laboratory. In particular, whereas laboratory plasmas are dominated by the confining magnetic field pressure, stars, and probably accretion disks, have magnetic fields whose beta (ratio of gas pressure to magnetic field pressure) is much greater than 1. Observations of the Sun suggest that under such circumstances the magnetic field breaks apart into discrete flux tubes with a small filling factor. On the other hand, theoretical treatments of MHD turbulence in high-beta plasmas tend to assume that the field is more or less homogeneously distributed throughout the plasma. Here we consider a simple model for the distribution of magnetic flux tubes in a turbulent medium. We discuss the mechanism by which small inhomogeneities evolve into discrete flux tubes and the size and distribution of such flux tubes. We then apply the model to accretion disks. We find that the fibrilation of the magnetic field does not enhance magnetic buoyancy. We also note that the evolution of an initially diffuse field in a turbulent medium, e.g., any uniform field in a shearing flow, will initially show exponential growth as the flux tubes form. This growth saturates when the flux tube formation is complete and cannot be used as the basis for a self-sustaining dynamo effect. Since the typical state of the magnetic field is a collection of intense flux tubes, this effect is of limited interest. However, it may be important early in the evolution of the galactic magnetic field, and it will play a large role in numerical simulations. Finally, we note that the formation of flux tubes is an essential ingredient in any successful dynamo model for stars or accretion disks.