Numerical simulation of coronal heating by resonant absorption of Alfvén waves

The heating of coronal loops by resonant absorption of Alfvén waves is studied in compressible, resistive magnetohydrodynamics. The loops are approximated by straight cylindrical, axisymmetric plasma columns and the incident waves which excite the coronal loops are modelled by a periodic external driver. The stationary state of this system is determined with a numerical code based on the finite element method. Since the power spectrum of the incident waves is not well known, the intrinsic dissipation is computed. The intrinsic dissipation spectrum is independent of the external driver and reflects the intrinsic ability of the coronal loops to extract energy from incident waves by the mechanism of resonant absorption.The numerical results show that resonant absorption is very efficient for typical parameter values occurring in the loops of the solar corona. A considerable part of the energy supplied by the external driver, is actually dissipated Ohmically and converted into heat. The heating of the plasma is localized in a narrow resonant layer with a width proportional to ^1/3. The energy dissipation rate is almost independent of the resistivity for the relevant values of this parameter. The efficiency of the heating mechanism and the localization of the heating strongly depend on the frequency of the external driver. Resonant absorption is extremely efficient when the plasma is excited with a frequency near the frequency of a so-called collective mode.     

Counterstreaming magnetized plasmas with kappa distributions – II. Perpendicular wave propagation

The analysis of the stability and the dispersion properties of a counterstreaming plasma system with kappa distributions are extended here with the investigation of perpendicular instabilities. Purely growing filamentation (Weibel-like) modes propagating perpendicular to the background magnetic field can be excited in streaming plasmas with or without an excess of parallel temperature. In this case, however, the effect of suprathermal tails of kappa populations is opposite to that obtained for parallel waves: the growth rates can be higher and the instability faster than for Maxwellian plasmas. The unstable wavenumbers also extend to a markedly larger broadband making this instability more likely to occur in space plasmas with anisotropic distributions of kappa-type. The filamentation instability of counterstreaming magnetized plasmas could provide a plausible mechanism for the origin of two-dimensional transverse magnetic fluctuations detected at different altitudes in the solar wind.     

Solar Wind Electron Strahls Associated with a High-Latitude CME: Ulysses Observations

Counterstreaming beams of electrons are ubiquitous in coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – although their existence is not unanimously accepted as a necessary and/or sufficient signature of these events. We continue the investigation of a high-latitude CME registered by the Ulysses spacecraft on 18?–?19 January 2002 (Dumitrache, Popescu, and Oncica, Solar Phys. 272, 137, 2011), by surveying the solar-wind electron distributions associated with this event. The temporal evolution of the pitch-angle distributions reveals populations of electrons that are distinguishable through their anisotropy, with clear signatures of i) electron strahls, ii) counter-streaming in the magnetic clouds and their precursors, and iii) unidirectionality in the fast wind preceding the CME. The analysis of the counter-streams inside the CME allows us to elucidate the complexity of the magnetic-cloud structures embedded in the CME and to refine the borders of the event. Identifying such strahls in CMEs, which preserve properties of the low β [<1] coronal plasma, gives more support to the hypothesis that these populations are remnants of the hot coronal electrons that escape from the electrostatic potential of the Sun into the heliosphere.     

Obliquity‐dominated glacio‐eustatic sea level change in the early Oligocene: evidence from the shallow marine siliciclastic Rupelian stratotype (Boom Formation,Belgium)

Our results prove that glacio‐eustatic sea level oscillations in the early Oligocene were dominantly obliquity controlled with additional influence of the ∼100‐ and 405‐kyr eccentricity cycles. This was derived from spectral analysis of resistivity records from an extended downhole section of the Boom Clay succession in Belgium, that reveals a prevailing obliquity control on the laterally persistent metre‐scale alternations of shallow marine silt‐ and claystones in the Rupelian historical stratotype succession. These direct measurements of sea level variations in a shallow marine setting corroborate that variations with similar frequencies in benthonic oxygen isotope records from the open ocean indeed reflect, at least partly, ice volume change. A very tentative astronomical tuning has been established for the Boom Clay succession which awaits future confirmation with the addition of more accurate age calibration points.     

Lander radioscience for obtaining the rotation and orientation of Mars

The paper presents the concept, the objectives, the approach used, and the expected performances and accuracies of a radioscience experiment based on a radio link between the Earth and the surface of Mars. This experiment involves radioscience equipment installed on a lander at the surface of Mars. The experiment with the generic name lander radioscience (LaRa) consists of an X-band transponder that has been designed to obtain, over at least one Martian year, two-way Doppler measurements from the radio link between the ExoMars lander and the Earth (ExoMars is an ESA mission to Mars due to launch in 2013). These Doppler measurements will be used to obtain Mars’ orientation in space and rotation (precession and nutations, and length-of-day variations). More specifically, the relative position of the lander on the surface of Mars with respect to the Earth ground stations allows reconstructing Mars’ time varying orientation and rotation in space.Precession will be determined with an accuracy better by a factor of 4 (better than the 0.1% level) with respect to the present-day accuracy after only a few months at the Martian surface. This precession determination will, in turn, improve the determination of the moment of inertia of the whole planet (mantle plus core) and the radius of the core: for a specific interior composition or even for a range of possible compositions, the core radius is expected to be determined with a precision decreasing to a few tens of kilometers.A fairly precise measurement of variations in the orientation of Mars’ spin axis will enable, in addition to the determination of the moment of inertia of the core, an even better determination of the size of the core via the core resonance in the nutation amplitudes. When the core is liquid, the free core nutation (FCN) resonance induces a change in the nutation amplitudes, with respect to their values for a solid planet, at the percent level in the large semi-annual prograde nutation amplitude and even more (a few percent, a few tens of percent or more, depending on the FCN period) for the retrograde ter-annual nutation amplitude. The resonance amplification depends on the size, moment of inertia, and flattening of the core. For a large core, the amplification can be very large, ensuring the detection of the FCN, and determination of the core moment of inertia.The measurement of variations in Mars’ rotation also determines variations of the angular momentum due to seasonal mass transfer between the atmosphere and ice caps. Observations even for a short period of 180 days at the surface of Mars will decrease the uncertainty by a factor of two with respect to the present knowledge of these quantities (at the 10% level).The ultimate objectives of the proposed experiment are to obtain information on Mars’ interior and on the sublimation/condensation of CO₂ in Mars’ atmosphere. Improved knowledge of the interior will help us to better understand the formation and evolution of Mars. Improved knowledge of the CO₂ sublimation/condensation cycle will enable better understanding of the circulation and dynamics of Mars’ atmosphere.     

Extracting drainage networks and their connectivity using LiDAR data

Policies, measures, and models geared towards flood prevention and managing surface waters benefit from high quality data on the presence and characteristics of drainage ditches. As a cost and labour effective alternative for acquiring such data through field surveys, we propose a method (a) to extract vector data representing ditch drainage networks based on local morphologic features derived from high resolution digital elevation models (DEM) and (b) to identify possible connections in the ditch network by calculating a probability of the connectivity using a logistic regression where the predictor variables are characteristics of the ditch centre lines or derived from the DEM. Using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) derived DEMs with a 1 m resolution, the method was developed and tested for a mixed agricultural residential area in north‐eastern Belgium. The derived ditch segments had an error of omission of 8% and an error of commission of 5%. The original positional accuracy of the centre lines of the extracted ditches was 0.6 m and could be improved to 0.4 m by shifting each vertex to the position of the lowest LiDAR point located within a radius equal to the spatial resolution of the used DEM. About 69% of the false disconnections in the network were identified and corrected leading to a reduction of the unconnected parts of the ditch network by 71%. The extracted and connected network approximated the reference ditch network fairly well.     

Salt water infiltration in two artificial sea inlets in the Belgian dune area

In the dune area of the Westhoek Nature Reserve, situated in the western Belgian coastal plain, two artificial tidal inlets were made aiming to enhance biodiversity. The infiltration of salt water in these tidal inlets was carefully monitored because a fresh water lens is present in the phreatic dune aquifer. This forms an important source of fresh water which is for instance exploited by a water company. The infiltration was monitored over a period of two years by means of electromagnetic borehole measurements (EM39) and by measurements of fresh water heads and temperature using a large number of observation wells. EM39 observations point to aquifer heterogeneity as a determining factor in the movement of the salt infiltration water. It is shown that part of the infiltration water moves further in the dunes instead of towards the sea. On the long term run, possibility exists that salt water enters the extraction’s capture zone. This issue needs further monitoring and study. Fresh water head and temperature data illustrate that the main period of infiltration is confined to spring tide when large amounts of salt water enter the tidal inlets.     

Interferometric Observations of the Quiet Sun at 20 and 25 MHz in May 2014

We present the results of solar observations at 20 and 25 MHz with the Ukrainian T-shaped Radio telescope of the second modification (UTR-2) in the interferometric session from 27 May to 2 June 2014. In this case, the different baselines 225, 450, and 675 m between the sections of the east–west and north–south arms of UTR-2 were used. On 29 May 2014, strong sporadic radio emission consisting of Type III, Type II, and Type IV bursts was observed. On other days, there was no solar radio activity in the decameter range. We discuss the observation results of the quiet Sun. Fluxes and sizes of the Sun in east–west and north–south directions were measured. The average fluxes were 1050?–?1100 Jy and 1480?–?1570 Jy at 20 and 25 MHz, respectively. The angular sizes of the quiet Sun in equatorial and polar directions were \(55'\) and \(49'\) at 20 MHz and \(50'\) and \(42'\) at 25 MHz. The brightness temperatures of the radio emission were \({T_{\mathrm{b}}} = 5.1 \times{10^{5}}~\mbox{K}\) and \({T_{\mathrm{b}}} = 5.7 \times{10^{5}}~\mbox{K}\) at 20 and 25 MHz, respectively.