HR: 0800h
AN: SH51C-0288    [Abstracts]
TI: Solar Wind Heating: Critical Tests of a Turbulence Theory
AU: * Smith, C W
EM: Charles.Smith@unh.edu
AF: Space Science Center, Morse Hall, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824 United States
AU: Isenberg, P A
EM: Phil.Isenberg@unh.edu
AF: Space Science Center, Morse Hall, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824 United States
AU: Matthaeus, W H
EM: yswhm@bartol.udel.edu
AF: Bartol Research Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 United States
AU: Richardson, J D
EM: jdr@sapce.mit.edu
AF: Center for Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 United States
AB: We review observations of solar wind heating in the outer heliosphere as measured by the Voyager 2 and Pioneer 11 spacecraft and described previously by a theory of pickup ion wave excitation and turbulent transport. That theory was most recently applied to observations by Smith et al. [2001] and with significant revision of the pickup proton component by Isenberg et al. [2003]. We extend the application of the theory to include time variation of solar wind parameters as recorded by the Omnitape dataset of 1 AU measurements. We also extend the range of heliocentric distances made available by the more recent Voyager data. By averaging Omnitape observations over several solar rotations and using the resulting values as input to the theory, we are able to reproduce the variability of the thermal proton temperatures observed in the outer heliosphere. This is seen to be a direct result of the dependence of energy injection by pickup protons upon bulk solar wind parameters such as Alfven speed and wind speed and the fact that these parameters persist in a predictable manner from 1 AU to the outer heliosphere. There is also evidence of latitudinal effects during solar minimum that may be explainable by using high-latitude observations by Ulysses as input for the theory. Smith et al., JGR, A106, 8253-8272 [2001] Isenberg et al., ApJ, 592, 564-573 [2003]
DE: 2134 Interplanetary magnetic fields
DE: 2149 MHD waves and turbulence
DE: 2152 Pickup ions
DE: 2164 Solar wind plasma
SC: SPA-Solar and Heliospheric Physics [SH]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting