HR: 13:40h
AN: SH33B-01    [Abstracts]
TI: Behavior of solar wind energy flux near density holes upstream of the bow shock
AU: * Parks, G K
EM: parks@ssl.berkeley.edu
AF: Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States
AU: Lee, E
EM: eslee@ssl.berkeley.edu
AF: Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States
AU: de Guiran, R
EM: remi@ssl.berkeley.edu
AF: Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States
AU: Lin, N
EM: nlin@ssl.berkeley.edu
AF: Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States
AU: Mozer, F
EM: fmozer@ssl.berkeley.edu
AF: Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States
AU: Wilber, M
EM: wilber@ssl.berkeley.udu
AF: Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States
AU: Kearney, B
EM: brian.Kearney@ssl.berkeley.edu
AF: Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States
AU: Dandouras, I
EM: dandouras@cesr.fr
AF: CESR, Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, 30450, France
AU: Reme, H
EM: reme@cesr.fr
AF: Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, United States
AU: Goldstein, M
EM: Melvy.L.Goldstein@nasa.gov
AF: Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, United States
AB: We present new observations of density holes upstream of Earth's bow shock. Density holes are regions of density depletions below the solar wind level with scale length of an ion gyroradius. They represent the smallest nonlinear ion structures produced by the solar wind. The edges of density holes have strong currents and as the holes propagate earthward the magnetic field evolves nonlinearly into a shock-like structure.We have examined how the solar wind energy flux changes as it approaches the density holes. The ith component of the energy flux 2Q_i = nm²i> + nm i>² + 2nm i?v_j>j> + nm2?v_i> is measured by the plasma instrument on Cluster. We will identify how macroscopic and microscopic energies of ions flow and vary in the neighborhood of density holes. These observations have the potential to provide information on how the solar wind energy is dissipated and plasmas transported across collisionless boundaries.
DE: 7829 Kinetic waves and instabilities
DE: 7851 Shock waves (4455)
DE: 7852 Solitons and solitary waves (4455)
SC: SPA-Solar and Heliospheric Physics [SH]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting