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    Models and data analysis tools for the Solar Orbiter mission
    (Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2020) Rouillard, A.P.; Pinto, R.F.; Vourlidas, A.; De Groof, A.; Thompson, W.T.; Bemporad, A.; Dolei, S.; Indurain, M.; Buchlin, E.; Sasso, C.; Spadaro, D.; del Toro Iniesta, J.C.; Ventura, R.; Verbeeck, C.; Vilmer, N.; Warmuth, A.; Walsh, A.P.; Watson, C.; Williams, D.; Wu, Y.; Zhukov, A.N.; Dalmasse, K.; Hirzberger, J.; Zouganelis, I.; Strugarek, A.; Brun, A.S.; Alexandre, M.; Berghmans, D.; Raouafi, N.E.; Wiegelmann, T.; Pagano, P.; Arge, C.N.; Nieves-Chinchilla, T.; Lavarra, M.; Poirier, N.; Amari, T.; Aran, A.; Andretta, V.; Antonucci, E.; Anastasiadis, A.; Auchère, F.; Bellot Rubio, L.; Nicula, B.; Bonnin, X.; Bouchemit, M.; Budnik, E.; Caminade, S.; Cecconi, B.; Carlyle, J.; Cernuda, I.; Davila, J.M.; Etesi, L.; Espinosa Lara, F.; Fedorov, A.; Fineschi, S.; Fludra, A.; Génot, V.; Georgoulis, M.K.; Gilbert, H.R.; Giunta, A.; Gomez-Herrero, R.; Guest, S.; Haberreiter, M.; Hassler, D.; Henney, C.J.; Howard, R.A.; Horbury, T.S.; Janvier, M.; Jones, S.T.; Kozarev, K.; Kraaikamp, E.; Kouloumvakos, A.; Krucker, S.; Lagg, A.; Linker, J.; Lavraud, B.; Louarn, P.; Maksimovic, M.; Maloney, S.; Mann, G.; Masson, A.; Müller, D.; Önel, H.; Osuna, P.; Orozco Suarez, D.; Owen, C.J.; Papaioannou, A.; Pérez-Suáre, D.; Rodriguez-Pacheco, J.; Parenti, S.; Pariat, E.; Peter, H.; Plunkett, S.; Pomoell, J.; Raines, J.M.; Riethmüller, T.L.; Rich, N.; Rodriguez, L.; Romoli, M.; Sanchez, L.; Solanki, S.K.; St Cyr, O.C.; Straus, T.; Susino, R.; Teriaca, L.
    Context. The Solar Orbiter spacecraft will be equipped with a wide range of remote-sensing (RS) and in situ (IS) instruments to record novel and unprecedented measurements of the solar atmosphere and the inner heliosphere. To take full advantage of these new datasets, tools and techniques must be developed to ease multi-instrument and multi-spacecraft studies. In particular the currently inaccessible low solar corona below two solar radii can only be observed remotely. Furthermore techniques must be used to retrieve coronal plasma properties in time and in three dimensional (3D) space. Solar Orbiter will run complex observation campaigns that provide interesting opportunities to maximise the likelihood of linking IS data to their source region near the Sun. Several RS instruments can be directed to specific targets situated on the solar disk just days before data acquisition. To compare IS and RS, data we must improve our understanding of how heliospheric probes magnetically connect to the solar disk. Aims. The aim of the present paper is to briefly review how the current modelling of the Sun and its atmosphere can support Solar Orbiter science. We describe the results of a community-led effort by European Space Agency’s Modelling and Data Analysis Working Group (MADAWG) to develop different models, tools, and techniques deemed necessary to test different theories for the physical processes that may occur in the solar plasma. The focus here is on the large scales and little is described with regards to kinetic processes. To exploit future IS and RS data fully, many techniques have been adapted to model the evolving 3D solar magneto-plasma from the solar interior to the solar wind. A particular focus in the paper is placed on techniques that can estimate how Solar Orbiter will connect magnetically through the complex coronal magnetic fields to various photospheric and coronal features in support of spacecraft operations and future scientific studies. Methods. Recent missions such as STEREO, provided great opportunities for RS, IS, and multi-spacecraft studies. We summarise the achievements and highlight the challenges faced during these investigations, many of which motivated the Solar Orbiter mission. We present the new tools and techniques developed by the MADAWG to support the science operations and the analysis of the data from the many instruments on Solar Orbiter. Results. This article reviews current modelling and tool developments that ease the comparison of model results with RS and IS data made available by current and upcoming missions. It also describes the modelling strategy to support the science operations and subsequent exploitation of Solar Orbiter data in order to maximise the scientific output of the mission. Conclusions. The on-going community effort presented in this paper has provided new models and tools necessary to support mission operations as well as the science exploitation of the Solar Orbiter data. The tools and techniques will no doubt evolve significantly as we refine our procedure and methodology during the first year of operations of this highly promising mission.
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    Magnetic holes in the solar wind between 0.3 AU and 17 AU
    (Göttingen : Copernicus GmbH, 2000) Sperveslage, K.; Neubauer, F.M.; Baumgärtel, K.; Ness, N.F.
    Magnetic holes (MHs) are depressions of the magnetic field magnitude. Turner et al. (1977) identified the first MHs in the solar wind and determined an occurrence rate of 1.5 MHs/d. Winterhalter et al. (1994) developed an automatic identification criterion to search for MHs in Ulysses data in the solar wind between 1 AU and 5.4 AU. We adopt their criterion to expand the search to the heliocentric distances down to 0.3 AU using data from Helios 1 and 2 and up to 17 AU using data from Voyager 2. We relate our observations to two theoretical approaches which describe the so-called linear MHs in which the magnetic vector varies in magnitude rather than direction. Therefore we focus on such linear MHs with a directional change less than 10°. With our observations of about 850 MHs we present the following results: Approximately 30% of all the identified MHs are linear. The maximum angle between the initial magnetic field vector and any vector inside the MH is 20°in average and shows a weak relation to the depth of the MHs. The angle between the initial magnetic field and the minimum variance direction of those structures is large and very probably close to 90°. The MHs are placed in a high β environment even though the average solar wind shows a smaller β. The widths decrease from about 50 proton inertial length in a region between 0.3 AU and 0.4 AU heliocentric distance to about 15 proton inertial length at distances larger than 10 AU. This quantity is correlated with the β of the MH environments with respect to the heliocentric distance. There is a clear preference for the occurrence of depressions instead of compressions. We discuss these results with regard to the main theories of MHs, the mirror instability and the alternative soliton approach. Although our observational results are more consistent with the soliton theory we favor a combination of both. MHs might be the remnants of initial mirror mode structures which can be described as solitons during the main part of their lifetime.
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    Correlation-Based characterisation of time-Varying dynamical complexity in the Earth's magnetosphere
    (Göttingen : Copernicus GmbH, 2013) Donner, R.V.; Balasis, G.
    The dynamical behaviour of the magnetosphere is known to be a sensitive indicator for the response of the system to solar wind coupling. Since the solar activity commonly displays very interesting non-stationary and multi-scale dynamics, the magnetospheric response also exhibits a high degree of dynamical complexity associated with fundamentally different characteristics during periods of quiescence and magnetic storms. The resulting temporal complexity profile has been explored using several approaches from applied statistics, dynamical systems theory and statistical mechanics. Here, we propose an alternative way of looking at time-varying dynamical complexity of nonlinear geophysical time series utilising subtle but significant changes in the linear autocorrelation structure of the recorded data. Our approach is demonstrated to sensitively trace the dynamic signatures associated with intense magnetic storms, and to display reasonable skills in distinguishing between quiescence and storm periods. The potentials and methodological limitations of this new viewpoint are discussed in some detail.