Testing Turbulent Transport Models of the Solar Wind

Nazirah Jetha, Gary Zank, Alexander Dosch

University of Alabama Huntsville

We present a model that describes the transport of low frequency turbulent fluctuations throughout the solar wind, We discuss one application of this model, which is the outstanding problem of heating the solar corona to temperatures in excess of 10^6 degrees K. This application will have important implications for the Solar Probe Plus mission that will investigate the solar wind plasma and magnetic field to distances as close as 9 solar radii. Solar Probe Plus has an instrument suite, SWEAP, that is being partially developed by CSPAR-UAHuntsville and NASA- MSFC scientists. We show results of preliminary tests of this model using spacecraft data from 1-40 AU, and discuss further tests in easily accessible regions of the heliosphere.

Presented at ISDC 2011 - Huntsville. Paper and presentation charts are not available.