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NASA NTRS1995

Detectability of electrostatic decay products in Ulysses and Galileo observations of type 3 solar radio sources

Recent in situ Ulysses and Galileo observations of the source regions of type 3 solar radio bursts appear to show an absence of ion acoustic waves S produced by nonlinear Langmuir wave processes such as the electrostatic (ES) decay, in contradiction with earlier ISEE 3 observations and analytic theory. This letter resolves these apparent contradictions. Refined analyses of the maximum S-wave electric fields produced by ES decay and of the characteristics of the Ulysses Wave Form Analyzer (WFA) instrument show that the bursty S waves observed by the ISEE 3 should be essentially undetectable by the Ulysses WFA. It is also shown that the maximum S-wave levels predicted for the Galileo event are approximately less than the instrumental noise level, thereby confirming an earlier suggestion. Thus, no contradictions exist between the ISEE 3 and Ulysses/Galileo observation, and no evidence exists against ES decay in the published Ulysses and Galileo data. All available data are consistent with, or at worst not inconsistent with, the ES decay proceeding and being the dominant nonlinear process in type 3 bursts.

Cairns, Iver H.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Solar activity influence on climatic variations of stratosphere and mesosphere in mid-latitudes

The direct modulation of temperature of the mid-latitude mesosphere by the solar-cycle EUV variation, which leads to greater heat input at higher solar activity, is well established. Middle atmosphere temperature modulation by the solar cycle is independently confirmed by the variation of reflection heights of low frequency radio waves in the lower ionosphere, which are regularly monitored over about 30 years. As explained elsewhere in detail, these reflection heights depend on the geometric altitude of a certain isobaric surface (near 80 k), and on the solar ionizing Lyman-alpha radiation flux. Knowing the solar cycle variation of Lyman-alpha how much the measured reflection heights would be lowered with the transition from solar minimum to maximum can be calculated, if the vertical baric structure of the neutral atmosphere would remain unchanged. An discrepancy between expected and observed height change must be explained by an uplifting of the isobaric level from solar minimum to maximum, caused by the temperature rise in the mesosphere. By integrating the solar cycle temperature changes over the height region of the middle atmosphere, and assuming that the lower boundary (tropopause) has no solar cycle variation, the magnitude of this uplifting can be estimated. It is given for the Lidar-derived and for the rocket-measured temperature variations. Comparison suggests that the real amplitude of the solar cycle temperature variation in the mesosphere is underestimated when using the rocket data, but probably overestimated with the Lidar data.

Taubenheim, J.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Cassini Radio Science Experiments on Saturn and Titan Preserved Because of Lewis Analysis

The Cassini mission to Saturn is an international venture with participation from NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Italian Space Agency. The Cassini spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral in October 1997 and is scheduled to arrive at Saturn in July 2004. After arrival, the spacecraft will orbit Saturn about 60 times over a period of 4 years. During this time, the Cassini Radio Science Subsystem will be used to investigate the atmosphere and rings of Saturn and the atmosphere of its largest moon, Titan--which is larger than Mercury and is the only moon in our solar system with a dense atmosphere. A critical component in Cassini s Radio Science Subsystem is a traveling-wave tube (TWT) that was designed at the NASA Lewis Research Center and built by Hughes Electronic Dynamics Division (ref. 1). This TWT will amplify downlink microwave signals at a frequency of 32 GHz for the Deep Space Network and will be involved in a number of experiments. These include occultation experiments in which the microwave signal will be beamed through rings and atmospheres toward Earth. Researchers will analyze the received signals to determine the sizes and distributions of the particles in the rings and the structure and composition of the atmospheres. The Radio Science Subsystem also will also be used to more accurately determine the mass and size of Saturn and its moons, to investigate the solar corona, and to search for gravity waves from outside the solar system.

Wilson, Jeffrey D.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Remote sensing of the termination of the solar wind via in situ plasma measurements

Since 1983 the Plasma Wave experiments on the two Voyager spacecraft have detected low frequency radio noise in the outer heliosphere which has been postulated to emanate from the terminal shock of the solar wind or, possibly, from the heliopause itself. The solar wind data from the Plasma Science experiment on the Voyager spacecraft are studied to search for correlations with these radio emissions. It is found that two anomalous high speed streams passed Voyager 2 in late 1982 and early 1983 and it is suggested that the interaction of the streams with the heliospheric terminal shock is responsible for the generation of the most intense radio noise observed later in the same year. If the stream speeds did not decrease in traveling to the interaction region, that region is about 135 AU from the sun. This is consistent with previous estimates of the distance to the inner heliospheric shock.

Mcnutt, R. L., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS2005

Solar Type II Radio Bursts and IP Type II Events

We have examined radio data from the WAVES experiment on the Wind spacecraft in conjunction with ground-based data in order to investigate the relationship between the shocks responsible for metric type II radio bursts and the shocks in front of coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The bow shocks of fast, large CMEs are strong interplanetary (IP) shocks, and the associated radio emissions often consist of single broad bands starting below approx. 4 MHz; such emissions were previously called IP type II events. In contrast, metric type II bursts are usually narrowbanded and display two harmonically related bands. In addition to displaying complete dynamic spectra for a number of events, we also analyze the 135 WAVES 1 - 14 MHz slow-drift time periods in 2001-2003. We find that most of the periods contain multiple phenomena, which we divide into three groups: metric type II extensions, IP type II events, and blobs and bands. About half of the WAVES listings include probable extensions of metric type II radio bursts, but in more than half of these events, there were also other slow-drift features. In the 3 yr study period, there were 31 IP type II events; these were associated with the very fastest CMEs. The most common form of activity in the WAVES events, blobs and bands in the frequency range between 1 and 8 MHz, fall below an envelope consistent with the early signatures of an IP type II event. However, most of this activity lasts only a few tens of minutes, whereas IP type II events last for many hours. In this study we find many examples in the radio data of two shock-like phenomena with different characteristics that occur simultaneously in the metric and decametric/hectometric bands, and no clear example of a metric type II burst that extends continuously down in frequency to become an IP type II event. The simplest interpretation is that metric type II bursts, unlike IP type II events, are not caused by shocks driven in front of CMEs.

Cane, H. V.↗

NASA NTRS1983

The relationship between Saturn kilometric radiation and the solar wind

Voyager spacecraft radio, interplanetary plasma, and interplanetary magnetic field data are used to show that large amplitude fluctuations in the power generated by the Saturn kilometric radio emission are best correlated with solar wind ram pressure variation. In all, thirteen solar wind quantities previously found important in driving terrestrial magnetospheric substorms and other auroral processes were examined for evidence of correlations with the Saturn radio emission. The results are consistent with hydromagnetic wave or eddy diffusion processes driven by large scale solar wind pressure changes at Saturn's dayside magnetopause.

Desch, M. D.↗

NASA NTRS1983

The relationship between Saturn kilometric radiation and the solar wind

Desch, M. D.↗

NASA NTRS1991

The role of solar wind reconnection in driving the Neptune radio emission

The only remote diagnostic of conditions within the outer planets' magnetospheres is the highly variable flux of low-frequency radio waves. As at the other radio planets, Neptune radio emission also manifests, on a time scale of days, major intensity fluctuations that are indicative of a solar wind energy-coupling process of some kind. It is found that the merging of interplanetary magnetic field lines with Neptune's magnetosphere is the best predictor of emitted radio energy. By contrast, viscouslike energy coupling processes, such as might be caused by solar wind density or bulk speed fluctuations, are apparently ineffective in driving the radio emission.

Desch, M. D.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Adiabatic heating in impulsive solar flares

The dynamic X-ray spectra of two simple, impulsive solar flares are examined together with H alpha, microwave and meter wave radio observations. X-ray spectra of both events were characteristic of thermal bremsstrahlung from single temperature plasmas. The symmetry between rise and fall was found to hold for the temperature and emission measure. The relationship between temperature and emission measure was that of an adiabatic compression followed by adiabatic expansion; the adiabatic index of 5/3 indicated that the electron distribution remained isotropic. Observations in H alpha provided further evidence for compressive energy transfer.

Maetzler, C.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Report on the solar physics-plasma physics workshop

The paper summarizes discussions held between solar physicists and plasma physicists on the interface between solar and plasma physics, with emphasis placed on the question of what laboratory experiments, or computer experiments, could be pursued to test proposed mechanisms involved in solar phenomena. Major areas discussed include nonthermal plasma on the sun, spectroscopic data needed in solar plasma diagnostics, types of magnetic field structures in the sun's atmosphere, the possibility of MHD phenomena involved in solar eruptive phenomena, the role of non-MHD instabilities in energy release in solar flares, particle acceleration in solar flares, shock waves in the sun's atmosphere, and mechanisms of radio emission from the sun.

Sturrock, P. A.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Triggered Jovian radio emissions

Certain Jovian radio emissions seem to be triggered from outside, by much weaker radio waves from the sun. Recently found in the Voyager observations near Jupiter, such triggering occurs at hectometric wavelengths during the arrival of solar radio bursts, with the triggered emissions lasting sometimes more than an hour as they slowly drifted toward higher frequencies. Like the previous discovery of similar triggered emissions at the earth, this suggests that Jupiter's emissions might also originate from natural radio lasers.

Calvert, W.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Plasma waves in the magnetic hole

Magnetic holes in the solar wind, which are characterized by isolated local depressions in the magnetic field magnitude, have been observed previously. The Unified Radio and Plasma Wave (URAP) instrument of Ulysses has found that within such magnetic structures, electrostatic waves at kHz frequency and ultralow frequency electromagnetic waves are often excited and seen as short duration wave bursts. Most of these bursts occur near the ambient electron plasma frequency, which suggests that the waves are Langmuir waves. Such waves are usually excited by electron streams. Some evidence of the streaming of energetic electrons required for exciting Langmuir waves has been observed. These electrons may have originated at sources near the Sun, which would imply that the magnetic structures containing the waves would exist as long channels formed by field and plasma conditions near the Sun. On the other hand, the electrons could be suprathermal 'tails' from wave collapse processes occurring near the spacecraft. In either case, the Langmuir waves excited in the magnetic holes provide a measurement of the plasma density inside the holes. Low frequency electromagnetic waves, having frequencies of a fraction of the local electron cyclotron frequency, sometimes accompany the Langmuir waves observed in magnetic holes. Waves excited in this frequency range are very likely to be whistler-mode waves. They may have been excited by an electron temperature anisotropy which has been observed in the vicinity of the magnetic holes or generated through the decay of Langmuir waves.

Lin, Naiguo↗

NASA NTRS1996

Kilometre-Scale Structures in the Sun's Corona

Knowledge of the structure of the Sun's corona is important for our understanding of how this high-temperature plasma is heated, and of the processes involved in the acceleration of the solar wind. The structure can be investigated directly by imaging at optical and shorter wavelengths, or indirectly through the effects of changing electron density on the propagation of radio waves (scattering and scintillation). Radio measurements have established many of the characteristics of the density fluctuations in the corona and solar wind, but the fundamental nature of these structures is not yet fully understood. Two specific features that have proved difficult to explain are an abrupt increase in anisotropy of the irregularities close to the Sun, and a break in the power-law spectrum describing the density fluctuations. Here I argue that these features are the manifestation of a transition from small ray-like or filamentary structures in the corona that rotate with the Sun to turbulent density irregularities convecting with the solar wind. I estimate the size of the smallest filamentary structure within coronal holes to be about I km at the Sun, approximately three orders of magnitude smaller than the smallest filamentary structures observed in images of different wavelengths.

Woo, Richard↗

NASA NTRS1975

Direction-finding measurements of type 3 radio bursts out of the ecliptic plane

Direction-finding measurements with the plasma wave experiments on the HAWKEYE 1 and IMP 8 satellites are used to find the source locations of type 3 solar radio bursts in heliocentric latitude and longitude in a frequency range from 31.1 kHz to 500 kHz. Using an empirical model for the emission frequency as a function of radial distance from the sun the three-dimensional trajectory of the type 3 radio source can be determined from direction-finding measurements at different frequencies. Since the electrons which produce these radio emissions follow the magnetic field lines from the sun these measurements provide information on the three-dimensional structure of the magnetic field in the solar wind. The source locations projected into the ecliptic plane follow an Archimedian spiral. Perpendicular to the ecliptic plane the source locations usually follow a constant heliocentric latitude. With direction-finding measurements of this type it is also possible to determine the source size from the modulation factor of the received signals.

Baumback, M. M.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Prompt acceleration of ions by oblique turbulent shocks in solar flares

Solar flares often accelerate ions and electrons to relativistic energies. The details of the acceleration process are not well understood, but until recently the main trend was to divide the acceleration process into two phases. During the first phase elctrons and ions are heated and accelerated up to several hundreds of keV simultaneously with the energy release. These mildly relativistic electrons interact with the ambient plasma and magnetic fields and generate hard X-ray and radio radiation. The second phase, usually delayed from the first by several minutes, is responsible for accelerating ions and electrons to relativistic energies. Relativistic electrons and ions interact with the solar atmosphere or escape from the Sun and generate gamma ray continuum, gamma ray line emission, neutron emission or are detected in space by spacecraft. In several flares the second phase is coincident with the start of a type 2 radio burst that is believed to be the signature of a shock wave. Observations from the Solar Maximum Mission spacecraft have shown, for the first time, that several flares accelerate particles to all energies nearly simultaneously. These results posed a new theoretical problem: How fast are shocks and magnetohydrodynamic turbulence formed and how quickly can they accelerate ions to 50 MeV in the lower corona? This problem is discussed.

Decker, R. B.↗

NASA NTRS1971

Analysis of type 3 solar radio bursts observed at kilometric wavelengths from the OGO-5 satellite

Research was conducted to analyze the data on solar radio bursts obtained by the OGO-5 satellite. Since the wavelengths corresponding to the three lowest frequencies of observations exceeded one kilometer, the bursts detected in those channels were designated as kilometer-waves. The data search covered approximately 9200 hours between March 1968 and February 1970, and included the maximum of solar cycle No. 20. The study concentrated on 64 Type 3 solar radio events reaching frequencies equal or lower than 0.35 MHz. This selection criteria led to the choice of the most intense radio events. Measurements included: times of start, times of decay, and amplitudes of the 64 events. The consistency of the results, within the accuracy of the measurements, lends support to some of the assumptions made for the analysis, notably, the validity of the local plasma hypothesis, the constancy of the exciter particles velocity, and spiral shape of their trajectory.

Alvarez, H.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Solar radio continuum storms and a breathing magnetic field model

Radio noise continuum emissions observed in metric and decametric wave frequencies are, in general, associated with actively varying sunspot groups accompanied by the S-component of microwave radio emissions. These continuum emission sources, often called type I storm sources, are often associated with type III burst storm activity from metric to hectometric wave frequencies. This storm activity is, therefore, closely connected with the development of these continuum emission sources. It is shown that the S-component emission in microwave frequencies generally precedes, by several days, the emission of these noise continuum storms of lower frequencies. In order for these storms to develop, the growth of sunspot groups into complex types is very important in addition to the increase of the average magnetic field intensity and area of these groups. After giving a review on the theory of these noise continuum storm emissions, a model is briefly considered to explain the relation of the emissions to the storms.

Source record↗

DOE OSTI2021

VLBI Data Processing on Coronal Radio-sounding Experiments of Mars Express

The ESA’s Mars Express solar corona experiments were performed at two solar conjunctions in the years 2015 and 2017 by a number of radio telescopes in the European VLBI Network. This paper presents the methods to measure the frequency and phase fluctuations of the spacecraft radio signal, and the applications to study the characteristics of the plasma turbulence effects on the signal at a single station and at multiple stations via cross correlation. The power spectra of the frequency fluctuations observed between 4.9 and 76.3 R {sub s} have a power-law shape close to a Kolmogorov spectrum over the frequency interval ν {sub lo} < ν < ν {sub up}, where the nominal value of ν {sub lo} is set to 3 mHz and ν {sub up} is in the range of 0.03–0.15 Hz. The rms of the frequency fluctuations is presented as a function of the heliocentric distance. Furthermore, we analyze the variations of the electron column density fluctuations at solar offsets 4.9 R {sub s} and 9.9 R {sub s} and the cross-correlation products between the VLBI stations. The power density of the differential fluctuations between different stations decreases at ν < 0.01 Hz. Finally, the fast flow speeds of solar wind >700 km s{sup -1} are derived from the cross correlation of frequency fluctuations at ν < 0.01 Hz. The fast flow speeds of solar wind correspond to the high heliolatitude of the coronal region that the radio rays passed. The VLBI observations and analysis methods can be used to study the electron column density fluctuations and the turbulence at multiple spatial points in the inner solar wind by providing multiple lines of sight between the Earth and the spacecraft.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗