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IMF Length Scales and Predictability: The Two Length Scale MediumWe present preliminary results from a systematic study using simultaneous data from three spacecraft, Wind, IMP 8 (Interplanetary Monitoring Platform) and Geotail to examine interplanetary length scales and their implications on predictability for magnetic field parcels in the typical solar wind. Time periods were selected when the plane formed by the three spacecraft included the GSE (Ground Support Equipment) x-direction so that if the parcel fronts were strictly planar, the two adjacent spacecraft pairs would determine the same phase front angles. After correcting for the motion of the Earth relative to the interplanetary medium and deviations in the solar wind flow from radial, we used differences in the measured front angle between the two spacecraft pairs to determine structure radius of curvature. Results indicate that the typical radius of curvature for these IMF parcels is of the order of 100 R (Sub E). This implies that there are two important IMF (Interplanetary Magnetic Field) scale lengths relevant to predictability: (1) the well-established scale length over which correlations observed by two spacecraft decay along a given IMF parcel, of the order of a few tens of Earth radii and (2) the scale length over which two spacecraft are unlikely to even observe the same parcel because of its curvature, of the order of a hundred Earth radii.
Document ID
20000011204
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Collier, Michael R.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Szabo, Adam
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Slavin, James A.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Lepping, R. P.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Kokubun, S.
(Nagoya Univ. Toyokawa, Japan)
Date Acquired
August 19, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1999
Publication Information
Publication: International Journal of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy
Subject Category
Geophysics
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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