The Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS) mission is used to investigate turbulent fluctuations in the Earth's magnetosheath. The unique combination of multiple spacecraft and high time resolution plasma and electromagnetic field data provided by MMS makes it an ideal mission to study the nature of turbulence and energy conversion. The multiple spacecraft allow the determination of the wavevector directions and plasma frame frequencies of the fluctuations. Moreover, the particle velocities allow the determination of the ion and electron Alfvén ratios, giving an additional diagnostic to reveal the nature of the turbulent fluctuations. Finally, the currents (determined from plasma moments) and the three-dimensional electric field measurements allow the determination of a scale-dependent energy conversion rate. The results reveal that the fluctuations predominantly have kinetic Alfvén wave-like properties at wavenumbers near (where ρi is the ion gyroradius) and that Landau damping is an important pathway for converting energy.
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January 2022
Research Article|
January 25 2022
The kinetic Alfvén-like nature of turbulent fluctuations in the Earth's magnetosheath: MMS measurement of the electron Alfvén ratio
Special Collection:
Plasma Physics from the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission
O. W. Roberts
;
O. W. Roberts
a)
1
Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences
, Graz 8010, Austria
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: Owen.Roberts@oeaw.ac.at
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Y. Narita
;
Y. Narita
1
Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences
, Graz 8010, Austria
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R. Nakamura
;
R. Nakamura
1
Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences
, Graz 8010, Austria
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Z. Vörös
;
Z. Vörös
1
Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences
, Graz 8010, Austria
2
Institute of Earth Physics and Space Science
, ELRN, Sopron 9400, Hungary
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D. Verscharen
D. Verscharen
3
Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London
, Dorking RH5 6NT, United Kingdom
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a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: Owen.Roberts@oeaw.ac.at
Note: This paper is a part of the Special Collection: Plasma Physics from the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission.
Phys. Plasmas 29, 012308 (2022)
Article history
Received:
August 27 2021
Accepted:
December 19 2021
Citation
O. W. Roberts, Y. Narita, R. Nakamura, Z. Vörös, D. Verscharen; The kinetic Alfvén-like nature of turbulent fluctuations in the Earth's magnetosheath: MMS measurement of the electron Alfvén ratio. Phys. Plasmas 1 January 2022; 29 (1): 012308. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0068828
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