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Simulations of Solar Wind TurbulenceRecently we have restructured our approach to simulating magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence in the solar wind. Previously, we had defined a 'virtual' heliosphere that contained, for example, a tilted rotating current sheet, microstreams, quasi-two-dimensional fluctuations as well as Alfven waves. In this new version of the code, we use the global, time-stationary, WKB Alfven wave-driven solar wind model developed by Usmanov and described in Usmanov and Goldstein [2003] to define the initial state of the system. Consequently, current sheets, and fast and slow streams are computed self-consistently from an inner, photospheric, boundary. To this steady-state configuration, we add fluctuations close to, but above, the surface where the flow become super-Alfvenic. The time-dependent MHD equations are then solved using a semi-discrete third-order Central Weighted Essentially Non-Oscillatory (CWENO) numerical scheme. The computational domain now includes the entire sphere; the geometrical singularity at the poles is removed using the multiple grid approach described in Usmanov [1996]. Wave packets are introduced at the inner boundary such as to satisfy Faraday's Law [Yeh and Dryer, 1985] and their nonlinear evolution are followed in time.
Document ID
20080030143
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Goldstein, Melvyn L.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Usmanov, A. V.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Roberts, D. A.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
June 7, 2008
Subject Category
Solar Physics
Meeting Information
Meeting: Dynamical Processes in Space Plasmas
Location: Saint Johns
Country: United States
Start Date: June 7, 2008
End Date: June 14, 2008
Sponsors: Ben Gurion Univ. of the Negev
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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