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Higher-Order Turbulence Statistics in the Earth's Magnetosheath and the Solar Wind Using Magnetospheric Multiscale Observations

  • R. Chhiber
  • , A. Chasapis
  • , R. Bandyopadhyay
  • , T. N. Parashar
  • , W. H. Matthaeus
  • , B. A. Maruca
  • , T. E. Moore
  • , J. L. Burch
  • , R. B. Torbert
  • , C. T. Russell
  • , O. Le Contel
  • , M. R. Argall
  • , D. Fischer
  • , L. Mirioni
  • , R. J. Strangeway
  • , C. J. Pollock
  • , B. L. Giles
  • , D. J. Gershman
  • University of Delaware
  • NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
  • Southwest Research Institute
  • University of New Hampshire Durham
  • University of California, Los Angeles
  • Université Paris-Saclay
  • Space Research Institute
  • Denali Scientific

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

High-resolution multispacecraft magnetic field measurements from the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission's flux-gate magnetometer are employed to examine statistical properties of plasma turbulence in the terrestrial magnetosheath and in the solar wind. Quantities examined include wave number spectra; structure functions of order two, four, and six; probability density functions of increments; and scale-dependent kurtoses of the magnetic field. We evaluate the Taylor frozen-in approximation by comparing single-spacecraft time series analysis with direct multispacecraft measurements, including evidence based on comparison of probability distribution functions. The statistics studied span spatial scales from the inertial range down to proton and electron scales. We find agreement of spectral estimates using three different methods, and evidence of intermittent turbulence in both magnetosheath and solar wind; however, evidence for subproton-scale coherent structures, seen in the magnetosheath, is not found in the solar wind.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)9941-9954
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Volume123
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2018
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • intermittency
  • magnetosheath
  • multispacecraft technique
  • plasma turbulence
  • solar wind
  • turbulence

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