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Flow shear across solar wind discontinuities: WIND observations

dc.contributor.authorDe Keyser, J.
dc.contributor.authorRoth, M.
dc.contributor.authorSöding, A.
dc.date1998
dc.date.accessioned2017-05-19T10:56:25Z
dc.date.available2017-05-19T10:56:25Z
dc.identifier.urihttps://orfeo.belnet.be/handle/internal/5398
dc.descriptionWe examine the tangential magnetic field and velocity shears across directional discontinuities (DDs) with significant change in magnetic field intensity observed by WIND in slow and fast solar wind streams. The magnetic field rotation sense in fast wind DDs is that predicted by theory for outward propagating rotational discontinuities (RDs), but flow shear magnitude and orientation do not always satisfy RD theory. Alternatively, DDs with small normal magnetic field can be regarded as tangential discontinuities (TDs); the observed shears imply that the length scale over which the proton velocity distribution changes at the discontinuity can be both smaller or larger than that of the electron distribution. The slow wind includes a larger fraction of DDs that disagree with RD theory. It is shown that the flow shear orientations allowed in a TD provide a continuous transition between the opposite orientations for RDs propagating along or against the magnetic field direction.
dc.languageeng
dc.titleFlow shear across solar wind discontinuities: WIND observations
dc.typeArticle
dc.subject.frascatiPhysical sciences
dc.audienceScientific
dc.subject.freeMagnetic fields
dc.subject.freeMagnetometers
dc.subject.freePlasmas
dc.subject.freeVelocity
dc.subject.freeDirectional discontinuities
dc.subject.freeFlow shear
dc.subject.freeSolar wind discontinuities
dc.subject.freeTangential discontinuities
dc.subject.freeWind
dc.source.titleGeophysical Research Letters
dc.source.volume25
dc.source.issue14
dc.source.page2649-2652
Orfeo.peerreviewedYes
dc.identifier.doi10.1029/98GL51938
dc.identifier.scopus2-s2.0-0032114716


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