First measurements of electron vorticity in the foreshock and solar wind

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https://angeo.copernicus.org/articles/28/2187/2010/

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https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-28-2187-2010
 http://hdl.handle.net/11603/30785

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UMBC Goddard Planetary Heliophysics Institute (GPHI)

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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5317-988X

Date

2010-12-21

Type of Work

journal articles
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Citation of Original Publication

Gurgiolo, C., Goldstein, M. L., ViƱas, A. F., and Fazakerley, A. N.: First measurements of electron vorticity in the foreshock and solar wind, Ann. Geophys., 28, 2187ā€“2200, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-28-2187-2010, 2010.

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This work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
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Abstract

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.