2.3.1 spase://CNES/Instrument/CDPP-AMDA/Solar_Orbiter/RPW RPW Plasma Wave Investigation 2017-11-27T21:10:13Z RPW will make key measurements in support of the first three, out of four top-level scientific questions, which drive Solar Orbiter overall science objectives: * How and where do the solar wind plasma and magnetic field originate in the corona? * How do solar transients drive heliospheric variability? * How do solar eruptions produce energetic particle radiation that fills the heliosphere? * How does the solar dynamo work and drive connections between the Sun and the heliosphere? Here is the summary of the specific RPW Science Objectives. * Solar and Interplanetary Radio Burst: - What is the role of shocks and flares in accelerating particles near the Sun? - How is the Sun connected magnetically to the interplanetary medium? - What are the sources and the global dynamics of eruptive events? - What is the role of ambient medium conditions on particle acceleration and propagation? - How do variations and structure in the solar wind affect low frequency radio wave propagation? * Electron density and temperature measurements with the Quasi-Thermal Noise spectroscopy: - Precise measurement of both the electron density and temperature, with accuracies respectively of a few % and around 10 %, at perihelion. - Study the non-thermal character of the electron distributions at perihelion. * Radio emission processes from electron beams: Langmuir waves and electromagnetic mode conversion: - Measurements for the first time in the Solar Wind of both the electric and magnetic field waveforms at high time resolution (up to 500 kSs). - Study of the mode conversion from Langmuir to electromagnetic waves. - Study of the energy balance between electron beams, Langmuir waves and e.m. radio waves at several radial distances * Solar wind microphysics and turbulence: - Measure of the waves associated with the plasma instabilities that are generated by temperature anisotropies in the solar wind. - First DC/LF electric field measurements in the inner heliosphere and over a large radial distance in the solar. * Shocks, Reconnection, Current Sheets, and Magnetic Holes: - Identification and study of the reconnection process in current sheets with thickness down to the ion scales and smaller. - Determination of the interplanetary shock structure down to the spatial and temporal scales comparable and smaller than the typical ion scales. - Determination of different particle energisation mechanisms within shocks and reconnection regions. - Distinguish different radio burst generation mechanisms. Interplanetary Dust - Determination, in combination with the EPD instrument, the spatial distribution, mass and dynamics of dust particles in the near-Sun heliosphere, in and out of the ecliptic. To cover its specific Science Objectives, RPW will measure magnetic and electric fields at high time resolution using a number of sensors, to determine the characteristics of electromagnetic and electrostatic waves in the solar wind. More precisely, RPW will: * Make the first-ever high accuracy, high-sensitivity and low noise measurements of electric fields at low frequencies (below ~1 kHz) in the inner Heliosphere. * Measure the magnetic and electric fields of the solar wind turbulence with high sensitivity and dynamic range along the spacecraft trajectory. * Store high-resolution data from scientifically interesting regions such as in-situ shock crossings, in-situ Type III events and others. * Measure the satellite potential with high temporal resolution permitting to estimate the density fluctuations in the solar wind and allowing higher accuracy particle instrument measurements. * Measure the quasi thermal noise and Langmuir waves around the local plasma frequency * Measure for the first type the high frequency magnetic counterpart of Langmuir waves associated with in-situ Type III bursts * Observe the solar and interplanetary radio burst * Observe the radio counterpart of dust particle impacts * Detect on-board in-situ shock crossings and store the corresponding data * Detect on-board in-situ Type III events and store the corresponding data spase://SMWG/Person/Milan.Maksimovic PrincipalInvestigator Antenna SearchCoil spase://CNES/Observatory/CDPP-AMDA/SolO