Solar wind spatial scales in and comparisons of hourly Wind and ACE plasma and magnetic field data
Year: 2005
Type: article
Abstract: Hourly averaged interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and plasma data from the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) and Wind spacecraft, generated from 1 to 4 min resolution data time‐shifted to Earth have been analyzed for systematic and random differences. ACE moments‐based proton densities are larger than Wind/Solar Wind Experiment (SWE) fits‐based densities by up to 18%, depending on solar wind speed. ACE temperatures are less than Wind/SWE temperatures by up to ∼25%. ACE densities and temperatures were normalized to equivalent Wind values in National Space Science Data Center's creation of the OMNI 2 data set that contains 1963–2004 solar wind field and plasma data and other data. For times of ACE‐Wind transverse separations <60 R E , random differences between Wind values and normalized ACE values are ∼0.2 nT for ∣ B ∣, ∼0.45 nT for IMF Cartesian components, ∼5 km/s for flow speed, and ∼15 and ∼30% for proton densities and temperatures. These differences grow as a function of transverse separation more rapidly for IMF parameters than for plasma parameters. Autocorrelation analyses show that spatial scales become progressively shorter for the parameter sequence: flow speed, IMF magnitude, plasma density and temperature, IMF X and Y components, and IMF Z component. IMF variations have shorter scales at solar quiet times than at solar active times, while plasma variations show no equivalent solar cycle dependence.
DOI: 10.1029/2004ja010649
Authors: J. H. King, N. E. Papitashvili
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W1998820031