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Saur & Bieber 1999
Saur, J. and Bieber, J.W. (1999). Geometry of low-frequency solar wind magnetic turbulence: Evidence for radially aligned Alfvénic fluctuations. Journal of Geophysical Research 104: doi: 10.1029/1998JA900077. issn: 0148-0227.

We employ omnitape magnetic field data to determine the geometry of low-frequency (5- to 12-hour timescales) magnetic fluctuations in the solar wind. We consider three axisymmetric geometries, slab, two-dimensional (2-D), and isotropic, as well as binary combinations of them. Both the radial direction and the mean magnetic field direction are considered as candidate symmetry axes. We apply simultaneously three different tests for distinguishing these geometries. Our analysis decisively favors a binary geometry composed of 2-D turbulence symmetric with respect to the mean field direction and slab turbulence symmetric with respect to the radial direction. The presence of a slab component with radial symmetry provides observational support for a long-standing theoretical prediction of radially aligned Alfv¿nic fluctuations at 1 AU. We also find a variation of turbulence properties with solar wind speed, such that magnetic fluctuations in slow wind are more energetic and possess a greater proportion of slab modes than those in fast wind, and the ratio of longitudinal to transverse power in the 2-D component increases with wind speed. ¿ 1999 American Geophysical Union

BACKGROUND DATA FILES

Abstract

Keywords
Interplanetary Physics, Interplanetary magnetic fields, Interplanetary Physics, MHD waves and turbulence, Space Plasma Physics, Waves and instabilities, Space Plasma Physics, Turbulence, Magnetospheric Physics, Plasma convection, Space Plasma Physics, Charged particle motion and acceleration, Space Plasma Physics, Kinetic and MHD theory
Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research
http://www.agu.org/journals/jb/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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