The Solar Probe ANalyzer—Ions on the Parker Solar Probe

Livi, R.; Larson, D. E.; Kasper, J. C.; Abiad, R.; Case, A. W.; Klein, K. G.; Curtis, D. W.; Dalton, G.; Stevens, Michael L.; Korreck, K. E.; Ho, G. C.; Robinson, Miles; Tiu, Chris; Whittlesey, P. L.; Verniero, J. L.; Halekas, J. S.; McFadden, J. P.; Marckwordt, Mario; Slagle, Amanda; Abatcha, Mamuda; Rahmati, Ali; McManus, Michael D.

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ac93f5

Cited by 45 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…We use level 2 magnetic field data (in RTN coordinates) from the flux gate magnetometer (MAG). The PSP/Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons (SWEAP) instrument suite makes in-situ observations of solar wind thermal plasma that are processed to evaluate the velocity distribution functions (VDFs) of ions and electrons and associated moments (Kasper et al 2016;Case et al 2020;Whittlesey et al 2020;Livi et al 2022). For this study, we use proton VDF fits from the Solar Probe Cup (SPC) and electron VDF fits from Solar Probe Analyzer-Electron (SPANe; Halekas et al 2020).…”

Section: In-situ Data Setsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimation of Turbulent Proton and Electron Heating Rates via Landau Damping Constrained by Parker Solar Probe Observations

Shankarappa

Klein

Martinović

2023

ApJ

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The heating of ions and electrons due to turbulent dissipation plays a crucial role in the thermodynamics of the solar wind and other plasma environments. Using magnetic field and thermal plasma observations from the first two perihelia of the Parker Solar Probe, we model the relative heating rates as a function of the radial distance, magnetic spectra, and plasma conditions, enabling us to better characterize the thermodynamics of the inner heliosphere. We employ the Howes et al. steady-state cascade model, which considers the behavior of turbulent, low-frequency, wavevector-anisotropic, critically balanced Alfvénic fluctuations that dissipate via Landau damping to determine proton-to-electron heating rates Q p /Q e . We distinguish ion cyclotron frequency circularly polarized waves from low-frequency turbulence and constrain the cascade model using spectra constructed from the latter. We find that the model accurately describes the observed energy spectrum from over 39.4% of the intervals from Encounters 1 and 2, indicating the possibility for Landau damping to heat the young solar wind. The ability of the model to describe the observed turbulent spectra increases with the ratio of thermal-to-magnetic pressure, β p , indicating that the model contains the necessary physics at higher β p . We estimate high magnitudes for the Kolmogorov constant which is inversely proportional to the nonlinear energy cascade rate. We verify the expected strong dependency of Q p /Q e on β p and the consistency of the critical balance assumption.

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Section: In-situ Data Setsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimation of Turbulent Proton and Electron Heating Rates via Landau Damping Constrained by Parker Solar Probe Observations

Shankarappa

Klein

Martinović

2023

ApJ

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“…The instrument suites of Solar Wind Electrons, Alphas, and Protons (SWEAP; Kasper et al 2016) and FIELDS (Bale et al 2016) on board PSP provide the data used in this work. SWEAP includes the Solar Probe Cup (SPC; Case et al 2020), Solar Probe Analyzer for Electrons (SPAN-E; Whittlesey et al 2020), and Solar Probe Analyzer for Ions (SPAN-I; Livi et al 2022). SWEAP is designed to measure the velocity distributions of solar wind electrons, alpha particles, and protons (Kasper et al 2016).…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…SPAN-I measures the three-dimensional velocity distribution functions of the ambient ions in the energy range from several eV/q to 20 keV/ q with a maximum time resolution of 0.437 s, and it has a timeof-flight section that enables it to differentiate the ion species (Kasper et al 2016). The details of the fitted proton and alpha data are described in Finley et al (2020), Livi et al (2022), andMcManus et al (2022). However, the SPAN-I measurements used here are from low-cadence downlinked data, and the cadences of the fitted proton and alpha data are 6.99 and 13.98 s, respectively (Finley et al 2020;Verniero et al 2020;McManus et al 2022).…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Parker Solar Probe Observations of High Plasma β Solar Wind from the Streamer Belt

Huang

Kasper

Larson

et al. 2023

ApJS

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In general, slow solar wind from the streamer belt forms a high plasma β equatorial plasma sheet around the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) crossing, namely, the heliospheric plasma sheet (HPS). Current Parker Solar Probe (PSP) observations show that the HCS crossings near the Sun could be full or partial current sheet (PCS) crossings, and they share some common features but also have different properties. In this work, using the PSP observations from encounters 4–10, we identify streamer belt solar wind from enhancements in plasma β, and we further use electron pitch angle distributions to separate it into HPS solar wind around the full HCS crossings and PCS solar wind in the vicinity of PCS crossings. Based on our analysis, we find that the PCS solar wind has different characteristics as compared with HPS solar wind: (a) the PCS solar wind could be non-pressure-balanced structures rather than magnetic holes, and the total pressure enhancement mainly results from the less reduced magnetic pressure; (b) some of the PCS solar wind is mirror-unstable; and (c) the PCS solar wind is dominated by very low helium abundance but varied alpha–proton differential speed. We suggest that the PCS solar wind could originate from coronal loops deep inside the streamer belt, and it is pristine solar wind that still actively interacts with ambient solar wind; thus, it is valuable for further investigations of the heating and acceleration of slow solar wind.

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“…Ions are selected by elevation angle and then energy-tocharge ratio as they pass through the electrostatic analyser. An azimuthal distribution is resolved with a dedicated anode board (see Livi et al 2022 for a more detailed description of the instrument).…”

Section: Observational Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

NIRwave: A wave-turbulence-driven solar wind model constrained by PSP observations

Schleich

Saikia

Ziegler

et al. 2023

A&A

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Aims. We generate a model description of the solar wind based on an explicit wave-turbulence-driven heating mechanism, and constrain our model with observational data. Methods. We included an explicit coronal heating source term in the general 3D magnetohydrodynamic code NIRVANA to simulate the properties of the solar wind. The adapted heating mechanism is based on the interaction and subsequent dissipation of counter-propagating Alfvén waves in the solar corona, accounting for a turbulent heating rate Qp. The solar magnetic field is assumed to be an axisymmetric dipole with a field strength of 1 G. Our model results are validated against observational data taken by the Parker Solar Probe (PSP). Results. Our NIRwave solar wind model reconstructs the bimodal structure of the solar wind with slow and fast wind speeds of 410 km s−1 and 650 km s−1 respectively. The global mass-loss rate of our solar wind model is 2.6 × 10−14 M⊙ yr−1. Despite implementing simplified conditions to represent the solar magnetic field, the solar wind parameters characterising our steady-state solution are in reasonable agreement with previously established results and empirical constraints. The number density from our wind solution is in good agreement with the derived empirical constraints, with larger deviations for the radial velocity and temperature. In a comparison to a polytropic wind model generated with NIRVANA, we find that our NIRwave model is in better agreement with the observational constraints that we derive.

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The Solar Probe ANalyzer—Ions on the Parker Solar Probe

Cited by 45 publications

References 27 publications

Estimation of Turbulent Proton and Electron Heating Rates via Landau Damping Constrained by Parker Solar Probe Observations

Estimation of Turbulent Proton and Electron Heating Rates via Landau Damping Constrained by Parker Solar Probe Observations

Parker Solar Probe Observations of High Plasma β Solar Wind from the Streamer Belt

NIRwave: A wave-turbulence-driven solar wind model constrained by PSP observations

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