Potential Effects of Surface Temperature Variations and Disturbances and Thermal Convection on the Mars InSight HP<Superscript>3</Superscript> Heat-Flow Determination

The HP³ instrument on the InSight lander mission will measure subsurface temperatures and thermal conductivities from which heat flow in the upper few meters of the regolith at the landing site will be calculated. The parameter to be determined is steady-state conductive heat flow, but temperatures may have transient perturbations resulting from surface temperature changes and there could be a component of thermal convection associated with heat transport by vertical flow of atmospheric gases over the depth interval of measurement. The experiment is designed so that it should penetrate to a depth below which surface temperature perturbations are smaller than the required measurement precision by the time the measurements are made. However, if the measurements are delayed after landing, and/or the probe does not penetrate to the desired depth, corrections may be necessary for the transient perturbations. Thermal convection is calculated to be negligible, but these calculations are based on unknown physical properties of the Mars regolith. The effects of thermal convection should be apparent at shallow depths where transient thermal perturbations would be observed to deviate from conductive theory. These calculations were required during proposal review and their probability of predicting a successful measurement a prerequisite for mission approval. However, their uncertainties lies in unmeasured physical parameters of the Mars regolith.     

Operating characteristics of a high radius pre-swirl cooling system

An experimental investigation into pre-swirl effectiveness and receiver hole discharge coefficient characteristics for a high radius injection pre-swirl cooling systems was carried out on a physically representative experimental rig with a 450 mm diameter rotor.The receiver holes and pre-swirl nozzle were located at a radius of 181 mm and 180 mm respectively.The experimental work was mainly conducted at 5 000～12 000 r/min,4 bar absolute pressure and 1.132 kg/s air supply.The maximum air supply temperature was 190 ℃.Pressure and temperature distributions in the pre-swirl system were examined with an emphasis on the velocity effectiveness of the pre-swirl system as a whole and on the discharge coefficients of the rotating 'receiver holes' in the rotor.The results showed that the velocity effectiveness increased with increasing swirl ratio resulting in reduced blade cooling flow temperature.Different seal flow configurations caused very different effectiveness at different speeds,but outflow through the inner and outer seals always gave the highest effectiveness compared other configurations.Increasing the seal flow rate reduced the effectiveness.For the coefficient of discharge,except for the low speed range,it increased with increase in swirl ratio for most speeds.      

Cluster observations showing the indication of the formation of a modified-two-stream instability in the geomagnetic tail

This study presents several observations of the Cluster spacecraft on September 24, 2003 around 15:10 UT, which show necessary prerequisites and consequences for the formation of the so-called modified-two-stream instability (MTSI). Theoretical studies suggest that the plasma is MTSI unstable if (1) a relative drift of electrons and ions is present, which exceeds the Alfvèn speed, and (2) this relative drift or current is in the cross-field direction. As consequences of the formation of a MTSI one expects to observe (1) a field-aligned electron beam, (2) heating of the plasma, and (3) an enhancement in the B-wave spectrum at frequencies in the range of the lower-hybrid-frequency (LHF). In this study we use prime parameter data of the CIS and PEACE instruments onboard the Cluster spacecraft to verify the drift velocities of ions and electrons, FGM data to calculate the expected LHF and Alfvèn velocity, and the direction of the current. The B-wave spectrum is recorded by the STAFF instrument of Cluster. Finally, a field aligned beam of electrons is observed by 3D measurements of the IES instrument of the RAPID unit. Observations are verified using a theoretical model showing the build-up of a MTSI under the given circumstances.     

Space storm measurements of the July 2005 solar extreme events from the low corona to the Earth

The Athens Neutron Monitor Data Processing (ANMODAP) Center recorded an unusual Forbush decrease with a sharp enhancement of cosmic ray intensity right after the main phase of the Forbush decrease on 16 July 2005, followed by a second decrease within less than 12 h. This exceptional event is neither a ground level enhancement nor a geomagnetic effect in cosmic rays. It rather appears as the effect of a special structure of interplanetary disturbances originating from a group of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in the 13–14 July 2005 period. The initiation of the CMEs was accompanied by type IV radio bursts and intense solar flares (SFs) on the west solar limb (AR 786); this group of energetic phenomena appears under the label of Solar Extreme Events of July 2005. We study the characteristics of these events using combined data from Earth (the ARTEMIS IV radioheliograph, the Athens Neutron Monitor (ANMODAP)), space (WIND/WAVES) and data archives. We propose an interpretation of the unusual Forbush profile in terms of a magnetic structure and a succession of interplanetary shocks interacting with the magnetosphere.     

Modelling and observations of photospheric magnetic helicity

Mounting observational evidence of the emergence of twisted magnetic flux tubes through the photosphere have now been published. Such flux tubes, formed by the solar dynamo and transported through the convection zone, eventually reach the solar atmosphere. Their accumulation in the solar corona leads to flares and coronal mass ejections. Since reconnections occur during the evolution of the flux tubes, the concepts of twist and magnetic stress become inappropriate. Magnetic helicity, as a well preserved quantity, in particular in plasma with high magnetic Reynolds number, is a more suitable physical quantity to use, even if reconnection is involved.     

Are small-scale field-aligned currents and magnetosheath-like particle precipitation signatures of the same low-altitude cusp?

We examined some 75 observations from the low-altitude Earth orbiting DMSP, Ørsted and CHAMP satellites which were taken in the region of the nominal cusp. Our objective was to determine whether the actually observed cusp locations as inferred from magnetosheath-like particle precipitation (“particle cusp”) and intense small-scale magnetic field variations (“current cusp”), respectively, were identical and were consistent with the statistically expected latitude of the cusp derived from a huge number of charged particle spectrograms (“statistical cusp”).     

Mapping lunar surface chemistry: New prospects with the Chandrayaan-2 Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer (CLASS)

Surface chemistry of airless bodies in the solar system can be derived from remote X-ray spectral measurements from an orbiting spacecraft. X-rays from planetary surfaces are excited primarily by solar X-rays. Several experiments in the past have used this technique of X-ray fluorescence for deriving abundances of the major rock forming elements. The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter carries an X-ray fluorescence experiment named CLASS that is designed based on results from its predecessor C1XS flown on Chandrayaan-1. We discuss the new aspects of lunar science that can be potentially achieved with CLASS.