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s p Dace Plasma nysics: THE STUDY OF SOLAR-SYSTEM PLASMAS VOLUME 2 WORKING PAPERS Space Science Board Assembly of Mathematical and Physical Sciences National Research Council PART II Solar-System Plasma Processes NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES NAS'NAE Washington. DC. 1979 APR 9 1979 LIBRARY
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the Councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engi- neering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the Committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance. This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the In- stitute of Medicine. Available from Space Science Board 2101 Constitution Avenue Washington, D.C. 20418
FOREWORD The space age began exactly 20 years ago with the launch of Sputnik I and Explorer I. The Explorer spacecraft discovered regions of trapped radiation around the earthâthe van Allen belts. This was the beginning of the study of particles and fields in space, or space plasma physics. A large part of the effort in the early years of the space program was de- voted to the mapping of the magnetosphere, the measurements of time variations in particles and fields, and the explora- tion of the solar wind. From these studies a sophisticated empirical knowledge of phenomena in space plasma physics has emerged. With the attainment of this observational maturity in the field, NASA funding for space plasma physics has declined as priorities have shifted to other exploratory ventures. The present study of space plasma physics was therefore requested by NASA in order to obtain guidance for future directions in the subject. The study has involved a major effort on the part of a great many people working in space plasma physics. The Space Science Board formed a panel chaired by Stirling Colgate, composed for the most part of physicists expert in plasma physics but not especially knowledgeable about the space as- pects of plasmas; the report of this panel constitutes the first part of Volume 1 of the report. The Committee on Space Physics of the Board was charged with the responsibility for soliciting technical review papers on a large number of topics in space plasma physics. These reviews are Volume 2 of the report; they constitute a most valuable resource for those working in the field. From these reviews, two advocacy panels prepared overview position papers that served as re- source information for the Colgate panel and appear as Chap- ters 7 and 8 of Volume 1. The Colgate panel has recommended that future research in space plasma physics should involve a much closer inte- gration between theory and observation as is appropriate to the maturity of the field and in order to bring the research into closer contact with the mainstream of plasma physics research. The panel also concurred in the unified recom- mendations of the advocacy panels. The Space Science Board is most grateful to the many people who have devoted so much time and effort to carrying out this study. A. G. W. Cameron, Chairman Space Science Board iii
PREFACE This study was undertaken by a specially created committee of the Space Science Board of the National Research Council, at the request of the National Aeronautics and Space Admin- istration, in order to identify the future objectives of re- search in space plasma physics. The Space Science Board divided its study of plasmas in the solar system into four parts. The Study Committee on Space Plasma Physics, chaired by Stirling A. Colgate, con- sisted of six experts drawn from laboratory plasma physics and plasma astrophysics and the chairmen of three advocacy panels. Its function was to give an overall evaluation of the current status of solar-system plasma physics. The Study Committee on Space Plasma Physics was aided by three "advocacy" panels, whose members were practicing solar- system plasma physicists: a Panel on Plasma Physics of the Sun, chaired by E. N. Parker; a Panel on Solar System Mag- netohydrodynamics, chaired by C. F. Kennel; and a Panel on Solar System Plasma Processes, chaired by L. J. Lanzerotti. The Kennel and Lanzerotti panels dealt with plasma phenomena beyond the solar corona. Solar-system magnetohydrodynamics treated large-scale plasma phenomena in the solar wind and at the planets. Solar-system plasma processes considered those microscopic plasma problems that emerged from the study of the objects considered in solar-system magnetohydrody- namics and also considered the impacts of these processes on terrestrial science and technology. The solar-physics panel treated macroscopic and microscopic plasma processes occur- ring on the sun together and included many topics from what is conventionally called solar astronomy. Each member of the advocacy panels on solar-system mag- netohydrodynamics and solar-system plasma processes wrote a scientific review article on his specialty. Using these re- view articles as working papers, these two advocacy panels met to compose overview reports that summarized the salient points of the working papers and made recommendations. The Committee on Space Physics of the Space Science Board, chaired by R. A. Helliwell, appointed outside reviewers for each of the scientific review articles and supervised the reviewing process. These working papers are the subject of this volume.
PARTICIPANTS AND CONTRIBUTORS Study Committee Stirling A. Colgate, Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, Chairman Harold Furth, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Jack R. Jokipii, University of Arizona Charles F. Kennel, University of California, Los Angeles Louis J. Lanzerotti, Bell Telephone Laboratories Eugene N. Parker, University of Chicago David Pines, University of Illinois Marshall Rosenbluth, Institute for Advanced Study Malvin Ruderman, Columbia University Panel on Solar System Magnetohydrodynamics Charles F. Kennel, University of California, Los Angeles, Chairman Peter M. Banks, Utah State University Aaron Barnes, NASA, Ames Research Center Len A. Fisk, NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center Thomas E. Holzer, High Altitude Observatory Juan G. Roederer, University of Denver George L. Siscoe, Dartmouth College Panel on Solar System Plasma Processes Louis J. Lanzerotti, Bell Laboratories, Chairman Donald T. Farley, Cornell University William C. Feldman, Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory Robert W. Fredericks, TRW Systems Group Eugene Greenstadt, TRW Systems Group Gehard Haerendel, Institute for Estraterrestrischphysik Lawrence R. Lyons, NOAA, Space Environment Laboratory Francis W. Perkins, Princeton University Stanley Shawhan, University of Iowa Bengt U. 0. Sonnerup, Dartmouth College Peter A. Sturrock, Stanford University VI
1975 SSB Study Panel on Solar Physics Eugene N. Parker, University of Chicago, Chairman Jacques M. Beckers, Sacramento Peak Observatory Arthur J. Hundhausen, High Altitude Observatory Mukul R. Kundu, University of Maryland Cecil E. Leith, National Center for Atmospheric Research Robert Lin, University of California, Berkeley Jeffrey Linsky, Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics Frank B. MacDonald, NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center Robert Noyes, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Frank Q. Orrall, University of Hawaii Laurence E. Peterson, University of California, San Diego David M. Rust, American Science and Engineering Peter Sturrock, Stanford University Arthur B. C. Walker, Jr., Stanford University Adrienne F. Timothy, NASA, Headquarters Kenneth A. Janes, Boston University, Study Director Study Director Richard C. Hart, National Research Council Vll
Space Science Board A. G. W. Cameron, Chairman Francis P. Bretherton Stirling A. Colgate Robert A. Helliwell Francis S. Johnson Charles F. Kennel Lynn Margulis Peter Mazur Peter Meyer Robert A. Phinney Vera C. Rubin Richard B. Setlow Gerald J. Wasserburg Sheldon Wolff George E. Solomon, Ex officio Milton W. Rosen, Executive Secretary viii
CONTENTS II. SOLAR-SYSTEM PLASMA PR0CESSES Kenetic Process in the Solar Wind - W. C. Feldman 767 Shock Systems in Collisionless Space - E. W. Greenstadt and R. W. Fredricks 807 Magnetic Field Reconnection - B. U. 0. Sonnerup 879 Plasma Processes in the Earth's Radiation Belt - L. R. Lyons 973 Magnetospheric Plasma Waves - S. D. Shawhan 1014 The Ionospheric Plasma - D. T. Farley 1117 Understanding Plasma Instabilities in Space: Ionospheric Research and Communications Applications - F. W. Perkins 1155 Impacts of lonospheric/Magnetospheric Processes on Terrestrial Science and Technology - L. J. Lanzerotti (ed.) 1177 Impacts of Solar System Environment on Man and Man on the Environment - P. A. Sturrock 1269 ix
PART II Solar-System Plasma Processes
