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Quantified Energy Dissipation Rates in the Terrestrial Bow ShockWe present a detailed outline and discussion of the analysis techniques used to compare the relevance of different energy dissipation mechanisms at collisionless shock waves. We show that the low-frequency, quasi-static fields contribute less to ohmic energy dissipation, (−j ⋅ E ) (minus current density times measured electric field), than their high-frequency counterparts. In fact, we found that high-frequency, large-amplitude (greater than 100 millivolts per meter and/or greater than 1 nanotesla) waves are ubiquitous in the transition region of collisionless shocks. We quantitatively show that their fields, through wave-particle interactions, cause enough energy dissipation to regulate the global structure of collisionless shocks. The purpose of this paper, part one of two, is to outline and describe in detail the background, analysis techniques, and theoretical motivation for our new results presented in the companion paper. The companion paper presents the results of our quantitative energy dissipation rate estimates and discusses the implications. Together, the two manuscripts present the first study quantifying the contribution that high-frequency waves provide, through wave-particle interactions, to the total energy dissipation budget of collisionless shock waves.
Document ID
20160005949
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Wilson, L. B., III
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Sibeck, D. G.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Breneman, A.W.
(Minnesota Univ. Minneapolis, MN, United States)
Le Contel, O.
(Ecole Polytechnique Palaiseau, France)
Cully, C.
(Calgary Univ. Alberta, Canada)
Turner, D. L.
(California Univ. Los Angeles, CA, United States)
Angelopoulos, V.
(California Univ. Los Angeles, CA, United States)
Malaspina, D. M.
(Colorado Univ. Boulder, CO, United States)
Date Acquired
May 9, 2016
Publication Date
August 25, 2014
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Publisher: AGU Publications
Volume: 119
Issue: 8
ISSN: 2169-9380
e-ISSN: 2169-9402
Subject Category
Geophysics
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN31886
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
Terrestrial bow

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