Cluster Science And Instrumentation At RAL

D. S. Hall, M. Grande. (1990), JBIS, 43, pp.147-153

Refcode: 1990.43.147

Abstract:

The plasma processes being studied at RAL for which the Cluster mission will provide new insight are those that take place at plasma boundaries. The boundaries the Cluster spacecraft will traverse are those formed by the interaction of plasma streaming from the Sun (the “solar wind”) with the magnetic field of the Earth (fig. 1). Boundaries are regions where there are sharp gradients in the plasma parameters. Vector quantities need to be resolved for the formation and structure of the boundaries to be understood. Nature attempts to rid itself of sharp gradients, consequently the boundaries are in continual turmoil as the solar wind flows against magnetospheres, its pressure trying to increase the gradients. The boundaries are also continuously in motion, but not necessarily motion uniform throughout their whole surface; consequently the boundaries are usually deformed. The boundary surface should be thought of as the surface of an ocean during a storm rather than that of a sheltered mill pond.