THEMIS/ARTEMIS Observations of Kinetic-Scale Turbulence in the Solar Wind: Analysis of Electric and Magnetic Field Fluctuations

Abstract:

We present here an analysis of kinetic-scale electromagnetic fluctuations in the solar wind using data from THEMIS and ARTEMIS spacecraft.
We use high-time resolution electric and magnetic field measurements, as well as density fluctuations, up to 128 samples per second, as well as particle burst plasma data during carefully selected solar wind intervals. We focus our analysis on 8-10 such intervals spanning different values of plasma beta and angles between the local magnetic field and the radial Sun-Earth direction.
We discuss the careful analysis process of characterizing and removing the different instrumental effects and noise sources affecting the electric and magnetic field data at those scales, above 0.1 Hz or so, above the breakpoint marking the start of the so-called dissipation range of solar wind turbulence.
We compute parameters such as the electric to magnetic field ratio, the magnetic compressibility, magnetic helicity, and other relevant quantities in order to diagnose the nature of the fluctuations at those scales between the ion and electron cyclotron frequencies, extracting information on the dominant modes composing the fluctuations. We also discuss the presence and role of coherent structures in the measured fluctuations. The nature of the fluctuations in the dissipation or dispersive scales of solar wind turbulence is still debated. This observational study is also highly relevant to the current Turbulent Dissipation Challenge.