Solar plasma wave studies at L1 point with magnetic field measurements from magnetometers

Abstract

Fluxgate Magnetometers (FGM) are regularly sent onboard space missions to measure the local magnetic field magnitude. These magnetic field measurements are one of the methods used to study the plasma wave parameters. The plasma waves emanating from a plasma environment carries the history of their generation mechanism with them. Plasma waves can also provide information about various physical phenomena which take place locally in and around the Sun where the in-situ measurements are not possible due to extreme and hostile conditions. For solar plasma waves study, the first Lagrangian point (L1) is an excellent location as it is far off from the solar plasma environment as well as from Earth's magnetosphere. There are many spacecrafts sent at L1 point to study the scientific aspects of Sun. However only WIND and ACE were two missions which carried the magnetic field measurement instruments such as the FGM to measure the steady state magnetic field environment at L1 point. The FGMs onboard these two spacecrafts collects magnetic field data at very finite intervals to extract scientific information. Magnetic field data from FGM can be used to detect the solar plasma waves (primarily Alfven) at L1 point to estimate their wave properties.