Wave activities during different phase of solar cycle : Cassini observations on Saturn

Author(s):  
Dongxiao Pan ◽  
Zhonghua Yao

<p>Low frequency quasiperiodic (QP) magnetic field fluctuations are commonly observed in terrestrial and planetary magnetosphere.  At Earth,  these magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves are often observed in ultralow frequency (ULF) band (~1 mHz to 1 Hz), which could be generated by solar wind buffeting, Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and/or wave-particle interactions inside the Earth's magnetosphere. At giant planets (Saturn or Jupiter), their enormous magnetospheres often produce QP fluctuations with frequencies lower than the terrestrial ULF waves. In this study, we use Cassini spacecraft observations to analysis waves at period of 10 min to 60 min in Saturnian magnetosphere. We compare wave activities during different solar activities.</p>

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. A. Kronberg ◽  
J. Gorman ◽  
K. Nykyri ◽  
A. G. Smirnov ◽  
J. W. Gjerloev ◽  
...  

The Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI) and its effects relating to the transfer of energy and mass from the solar wind into the magnetosphere remain an important focus of magnetospheric physics. One such effect is the generation of Pc4-Pc5 ultra low frequency (ULF) waves (periods of 45–600 s). On July 3, 2007 at ∼ 0500 magnetic local time the Cluster space mission encountered Pc4 frequency Kelvin-Helmholtz waves (KHWs) at the high latitude magnetopause with signatures of persistent vortices. Such signatures included bipolar fluctuations of the magnetic field normal component associated with a total pressure increase and rapid change in density at vortex edges; oscillations of magnetosheath and magnetospheric plasma populations; existence of fast-moving, low-density, mixed plasma; quasi-periodic oscillations of the boundary normal and an anti-phase relation between the normal and parallel components of the boundary velocity. The event occurred during a period of southward polarity of the interplanetary magnetic field according to the OMNI data and THEMIS observations at the subsolar point. Several of the KHI vortices were associated with reconnection indicated by the Walén relation, the presence of deHoffman-Teller frames, field-aligned ion beams observed together with bipolar fluctuations in the normal magnetic field component, and crescent ion distributions. Global magnetohydrodynamic simulation of the event also resulted in KHWs at the magnetopause. The observed KHWs associated with reconnection coincided with recorded ULF waves at the ground whose properties suggest that they were driven by those waves. Such properties were the location of Cluster’s magnetic foot point, the Pc4 frequency, and the solar wind conditions.


1999 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
pp. 1245-1250 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Lepidi ◽  
P. Francia ◽  
U. Villante ◽  
A. Meloni ◽  
A. J. Lazarus ◽  
...  

Abstract. An analysis of the low frequency geomagnetic field fluctuations at an Antarctic (Terra Nova Bay) and a low latitude (L'Aquila, Italy) station during the Earth's passage of a coronal ejecta on April 11, 1997 shows that major solar wind pressure variations were followed at both stations by a high fluctuation level. During northward interplanetary magnetic field conditions and when Terra Nova Bay is close to the local geomagnetic noon, coherent fluctuations, at the same frequency (3.6 mHz) and with polarization characteristics indicating an antisunward propagation, were observed simultaneously at the two stations. An analysis of simultaneous measurements from geosynchronous satellites shows evidence for pulsations at approximately the same frequencies also in the magnetospheric field. The observed waves might then be interpreted as oscillation modes, triggered by an external stimulation, extending to a major portion of the Earth's magnetosphere. Key words. Magnetospheric physics (MHD waves and instabilities; solar wind-magnetosphere interactions)


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry Manners ◽  
Adam Masters

<p>The magnetosphere of Jupiter is the largest planetary magnetosphere in the solar system, and plays host to internal dynamics that remain, in many ways, mysterious. Prominent among these mysteries are the ultra-low-frequency (<strong>ULF</strong>) pulses ubiquitous in this system. Pulsations in the electromagnetic emissions, magnetic field and flux of energetic particles have been observed for decades, with little to indicate the source mechanism. While ULF waves have been observed in the magnetospheres of all the magnetized planets, the magnetospheric environment at Jupiter seems particularly conducive to the emergence of ULF waves over a wide range of periods (1-100+ minutes). This is mainly due to the high variability of the system on a global scale: internal plasma sources and a powerful intrinsic magnetic field produce a highly-compressible magnetospheric cavity, which can be reduced to a size significantly smaller than its nominal expanded state by variations in the dynamic pressure of the solar wind. Compressive fronts in the solar wind, turbulent surface interactions on the magnetopause and internal plasma processes can also all lead to ULF wave activity inside the magnetosphere.</p><p>To gain the first comprehensive view of ULF waves in the Jovian system, we have performed a heritage survey of magnetic field data measured by six spacecraft that visited the magnetosphere (Galileo, Ulysses, Voyager 1 & 2 and Pioneer 10 & 11). We found several-hundred wave events consisting of wave packets parallel or transverse to the mean magnetic field, interpreted as fast-mode or Alfvénic MHD wave activity, respectively. Parallel and transverse events were often coincident in space and time, which may be evidence of global Alfvénic resonances of the magnetic field known as field-line-resonances. We found that 15-, 30- and 40-minute periods dominate the Jovian ULF wave spectrum, in agreement with the dominant “magic frequencies” often reported in existing literature.</p><p>We will discuss potential driving mechanisms as informed by the results of the heritage survey, how this in turn affects our understanding of energy transfer in the magnetosphere, and potential investigations to be made using data from the JUNO spacecraft. We will also discuss the potential for multiple resonant cavities, and how the resonance modes of the Jovian magnetosphere may differ from those of the other magnetized planets.</p>


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riku Jarvinen ◽  
Esa Kallio ◽  
Tuija I. Pulkkinen

<p>We study the solar wind interaction with Venus and Mercury in a 3-dimensional global hybrid simulation where ions are treated as particles and electrons are a charge-neutralizing fluid. We concentrate on the formation of large-scale ultra-low frequency (ULF) waves in ion foreshocks and their dependence on the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field conditions. The ion foreshock forms in the upstream region ahead of the quasi-parallel bow shock, where the angle between the shock normal and the magnetic field is smaller than about 45 degrees. The magnetic connection with the bow shock allows backstreaming of the solar wind ions leading to the formation of the ion foreshock. This kind of beam-plasma configuration is a source of free energy for the excitation of plasma waves. The foreshock ULF waves convect downstream with the solar wind flow and encounter the bow shock. We compare the waves between Venus and Mercury, and analyze the coupling of the ULF waves with the planetary ion acceleration at Venus.</p> <p>References:</p> <p>Jarvinen R., Alho M., Kallio E., Pulkkinen T.I., 2020, Oxygen Ion Escape From Venus Is Modulated by Ultra-Low Frequency Waves, Geophys. Res. Lett., 47, 11, doi:10.1029/2020GL087462</p> <p>Jarvinen R., Alho M., Kallio E., Pulkkinen T.I., 2020, Ultra-low frequency waves in the ion foreshock of Mercury: A global hybrid modeling study, Mon. Notices Royal Astron. Soc., 491, 3, 4147-4161, doi:10.1093/mnras/stz3257</p>


2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 951-967 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Guicking ◽  
K.-H. Glassmeier ◽  
H.-U. Auster ◽  
M. Delva ◽  
U. Motschmann ◽  
...  

Abstract. We investigate wave properties of low-frequency magnetic field fluctuations in Venus' solar wind interaction region based on the measurements made on board the Venus Express spacecraft. The orbit geometry is very suitable to investigate the fluctuations in Venus' low-altitude magnetosheath and mid-magnetotail and provides an opportunity for a comparative study of low-frequency waves at Venus and Mars. The spatial distributions of the wave properties, in particular in the dayside and nightside magnetosheath as well as in the tail and mantle region, are similar to observations at Mars. As both planets do not have a global magnetic field, the interaction process of the solar wind with both planets is similar and leads to similar instabilities and wave structures. We focus on the spatial distribution of the wave intensity of the fluctuating magnetic field and detect an enhancement of the intensity in the dayside magnetosheath and a strong decrease towards the terminator. For a detailed investigation of the intensity distribution we adopt an analytical streamline model to describe the plasma flow around Venus. This allows displaying the evolution of the intensity along different streamlines. It is assumed that the waves are generated in the vicinity of the bow shock and are convected downstream with the turbulent magnetosheath flow. However, neither the different Mach numbers upstream and downstream of the bow shock, nor the variation of the cross sectional area and the flow velocity along the streamlines play probably an important role in order to explain the observed concentration of wave intensity in the dayside magnetosheath and the decay towards the nightside magnetosheath. But, the concept of freely evolving or decaying turbulence is in good qualitative agreement with the observations, as we observe a power law decay of the intensity along the streamlines. The observations support the assumption of wave convection through the magnetosheath, but reveal at the same time that wave sources may not only exist at the bow shock, but also in the magnetosheath.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Primož Kajdič ◽  
Yann Pfau-Kempf ◽  
Lucile Turc ◽  
Andrew Dimmock ◽  
Minna Palmroth

<p>We study the interaction of upstream ultra-low frequency (ULF) waves with collisionless shocks by analyzing the outputs of eleven 2.5D local hybrid simulation models. Our simulated shocks have Alfvénic Mach numbers between 4.29-7.42 and their θ<sub>BN</sub> angles are 15º, 30º, 45º and 50º. Thus all are quasi-parallel or marginally quasi-perpendicular shocks. Upstream of all of the shocks the ULF wave foreshock develops. It is populated by transverse and compressive ULF magnetic field fluctuations that propagate upstream in the rest frame of upstream plasma. We show that the properties of the upstream waves reflect on the properties of the shock ripples. We also show that due to these ripples, as different portions of upstream waves reach the shocks, they encounter shock sections with different properties, such as the downstream magnetic field and the orientation of the local shock normals. This means that the waves are not simply transmitted into the downstream region but are heavily processed by the shocks. The identity of upstream fluctuations is largely lost, since the downstream fluctuations do not resemble the upstream waves in their shape, waveform extension, orientation nor in their wavelength. However some features are conserved. For example, the Fourier spectra of upstream waves present a bump or flattening at wavelengths corresponding to those of the upstream ULF waves. Most of the corresponding compressive downstream spectra also exhibit these features, while transverse downstream spectra are largely featureless.</p>


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Gutynska ◽  
Jaroslav Urbář ◽  
Jana Šafránková ◽  
Zdeněk Němeček

<p>Particle reflection at the bow shock provides a source of free energy to drive local instabilities and turbulence within the foreshock. A variety of low-frequency fluctuations (up to 16 mHz) results from the interactions of back-streaming ions with the incoming solar wind flow. We report observations of low-frequency magnetosonic waves observed during intervals of a radial interplanetary magnetic field in the foreshock. A case study of simultaneous dual THEMIS spacecraft observations of asymmetrical fluctuations in V<sub>y</sub> is complemented by a statistical study of similar solar wind deflections in the foreshock.  Our moment calculations do not include the reflected particles as well as heavier ions, revealed the modulation of a solar wind core and deflection of the solar wind in the foreshock. This effect decreases with the distance from the bow shock. We conclude that large asymmetrical Vy velocity component fluctuations are typical for the foreshock formed by the radial IMF. The asymmetry of fluctuations changes the mean direction of the incoming solar wind flow within the foreshock leading to preconditioning prior to its encounter with the bow shock.</p>


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