Electrostatic Solitary Structures in Space Plasmas: Soliton Perspective

Occurrence of electrostatic solitary waves (ESWs) is ubiquitous in space plasmas, e.g., solar wind, Lunar wake and the planetary magnetospheres. Several theoretical models have been proposed to interpret the observed characteristics of the ESWs. These models can broadly be put into two main categories, namely, Bernstein–Green–Kruskal (BGK) modes/phase space holes models, and ion- and electron- acoustic solitons models. There has been a tendency in the space community to favor the models based on BGK modes/phase space holes. Only recently, the potential of soliton models to explain the characteristics of ESWs is being realized. The idea of this review is to present current understanding of the ion- and electron-acoustic solitons and double layers models in multi-component space plasmas. In these models, all the plasma species are considered fluids except the energetic electron component, which is governed by either a kappa distribution or a Maxwellian distribution. Further, these models consider the nonlinear electrostatic waves propagating parallel to the ambient magnetic field. The relationship between the space observations of ESWs and theoretical models is highlighted. Some specific applications of ion- and electron-acoustic solitons/double layers will be discussed by comparing the theoretical predictions with the observations of ESWs in space plasmas. It is shown that the ion- and electron-acoustic solitons/double layers models provide a plausible interpretation for the ESWs observed in space plasmas.

Development and performance of a suprathermal electron spectrometer to study auroral precipitations

The design, development, and performance of Medium-energy Electron SPectrometer (MESP), dedicated to the in situ observation of suprathermal electrons in the auroral ionosphere, are summarized in this paper. MESP employs a permanent magnet filter with a light tight structure to select electrons with proper energies guided to the detectors. A combination of two avalanche photodiodes and a large area solid-state detector (SSD) provided 46 total energy bins (1 keV resolution for 3-20 keV range for APDs, and 7 keV resolution for >20 keV range for SSDs). Multi-channel ultra-low power application-specific integrated circuits are also verified for the flight operation to read-out and analyze the detector signals. MESP was launched from Poker Flat Research Range on 3 March 2014 as a part of ground-to-rocket electrodynamics-electrons correlative experiment (GREECE) mission. MESP successfully measured the precipitating electrons from 3 to 120 keV in 120-ms time resolution and characterized the features of suprathermal distributions associated with auroral arcs throughout the flight. The measured electrons were showing the inverted-V type spectra, consistent with the past measurements. In addition, investigations of the suprathermal electron population indicated the existence of the energetic non-thermal distribution corresponding to the brightest aurora.