First measurements of electron vorticity in the foreshock and solar wind

We describe the methodology used to set up and compute spatial derivatives of the electron moments using data acquired by the Plasma Electron And Current Experiment (PEACE) from the four Cluster spacecraft. The results are used to investigate electron vorticity in the foreshock. We find that much of...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annales geophysicae (1988) 2010-12, Vol.28 (12), p.2187-2200
Main Authors: GURGIOLO, C, GOLDSTEIN, M. L, VINA, A. F, FAZAKERLEY, A. N
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Magnetic fields
Measurement
Physics of the ionosphere
Physics of the magnetosphere
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We describe the methodology used to set up and compute spatial derivatives of the electron moments using data acquired by the Plasma Electron And Current Experiment (PEACE) from the four Cluster spacecraft. The results are used to investigate electron vorticity in the foreshock. We find that much of the measured vorticity, under nominal conditions, appears to be caused by changes in the flow direction of the return (either reflected or leakage from the magnetosheath) and strahl electron populations as they couple to changes in the magnetic field orientation. This in turn results in deflections in the total bulk velocity producing the measured vorticity.
ISSN:0992-7689
1432-0576
1432-0576
DOI:10.5194/angeo-28-2187-2010