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Using PEACE Data from the four CLUSTER Spacecraft to Measure Compressibility, Vorticity, and the Taylor Microscale in the Magnetosheath and Plasma SheetWe present determinations of compressibility and vorticity in the magnetosheath and plasma sheet using moments from the four PEACE thermal electron instruments on CLUSTER. The methodology used assumes a linear variation of the moments throughout the volume defined by the four satellites, which allows spatially independent estimates of the divergence, curl, and gradient. Once the vorticity has been computed, it is possible to estimate directly the Taylor microscale. We have shown previously that the technique works well in the solar wind. Because the background flow speed in the magnetosheath and plasma sheet is usually less than the Alfven speed, the Taylor frozen-in-flow approximation cannot be used. Consequently, this four spacecraft approach is the only viable method for obtaining the wave number properties of the ambient fluctuations. Our results using electron velocity moments will be compared with previous work using magnetometer data from the FGM experiment on Cluster.
Document ID
20080037619
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Goldstein, Melvyn L.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Parks, George
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Gurgiolo, C.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Fazakerley, Andrew N.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
September 21, 2008
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Meeting Information
Meeting: CLUSTER
Location: NH
Country: United States
Start Date: September 21, 2008
End Date: September 26, 2008
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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