Current sheets from Ulysses observation
Current sheet is a significant source of solar wind MHD turbulence intermittency. It has long been recognized that these structures can arise from non-linear interactions of MHD turbulence. Alternatively, they may also be relic structures in the solar wind that have a solar origin, e.g., magnetic...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2011-02-01
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| Series: | Annales Geophysicae |
| Online Access: | https://www.ann-geophys.net/29/237/2011/angeo-29-237-2011.pdf |
| Summary: | Current sheet is a significant source of solar wind MHD turbulence intermittency.
It has long been recognized that these structures can arise from non-linear interactions of
MHD turbulence. Alternatively, they may also be relic structures in the solar wind
that have a solar origin, e.g., magnetic walls of flux tubes that separate
solar wind plasma into distinct parcels. Identifying these structures in the solar wind
is crucial to understanding the properties of the solar wind MHD turbulence. Using Ulysses
observations we examine 3-year worth of solar wind magnetic field data when the Ulysses is
at low latitude during solar minimum. Extending the previous work of Li (2007, 2008),
we develop an automatic data analysis method of current sheet identification. Using this
method, we identify more than 28000 current sheets. Various properties of the current sheet
are obtained. These include the distributions of the
deflection angle across the current sheet, the thickness of the current sheet and the
waiting time statistics between current sheets. |
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| ISSN: | 0992-7689 1432-0576 |