Turbulent Transport in a Three-dimensional Solar Wind

Journal Article · Wed Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2017 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/AA60BC· OSTI ID:22661310

Shiota, D. ^[1]; Zank, G. P.; Adhikari, L.; Hunana, P. ^[2]; Telloni, D. ^[3]

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1. Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8601 (Japan)
2. Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research (CSPAR), Department of Space Science, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35805 (United States)
3. INAF—Astrophysical Observatory of Torino, Via Osservatorio 20, I-10025 Pino Torinese (Italy)

Turbulence in the solar wind can play essential roles in the heating of coronal and solar wind plasma and the acceleration of the solar wind and energetic particles. Turbulence sources are not well understood and thought to be partly enhanced by interaction with the large-scale inhomogeneity of the solar wind and the interplanetary magnetic field and/or transported from the solar corona. To investigate the interaction with background inhomogeneity and the turbulence sources, we have developed a new 3D MHD model that includes the transport and dissipation of turbulence using the theoretical model of Zank et al. We solve for the temporal and spatial evolution of three moments or variables, the energy in the forward and backward fluctuating modes and the residual energy and their three corresponding correlation lengths. The transport model is coupled to our 3D model of the inhomogeneous solar wind. We present results of the coupled solar wind-turbulence model assuming a simple tilted dipole magnetic configuration that mimics solar minimum conditions, together with several comparative intermediate cases. By considering eight possible solar wind and turbulence source configurations, we show that the large-scale solar wind and IMF inhomogeneity and the strength of the turbulence sources significantly affect the distribution of turbulence in the heliosphere within 6 au. We compare the predicted turbulence distribution results from a complete solar minimum model with in situ measurements made by the Helios and Ulysses spacecraft, finding that the synthetic profiles of the turbulence intensities show reasonable agreement with observations.

• OSTI ID: 22661310
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 837, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ACCELERATION
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CONFIGURATION
CORRELATIONS
DIPOLES
DISTRIBUTION
HELIOSPHERE
INTERACTIONS
INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
PLASMA
SOLAR CORONA
SOLAR WIND
SPACE VEHICLES
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
TRANSPORT THEORY
TURBULENCE