Characteristics of Magnetic Fluctuations Within Coronal Mass Ejections: The January 1997 Event

Robert J. Leamon, Charles W. Smith and Norman F. Ness

Geophysical Research Letters, 25, 2505-2509 (1998)

Abstract:

We determine the geometry of the fluctuations of the magnetic field at frequencies just above the proton gyrofrequency for the January 10, 1997 CME and the magnetic cloud within. The transverse magnetic fluctuations represent a greater fraction of the magnetic energy than is the case in the typical undisturbed solar wind. The break in the power spectrum that is associated with the the onset of magnetic dissipation falls within the frequency range of interest. The fluctuation geometry is markedly different above and below the spectral break frequency. The inertial range geometry remains unchanged in the cloud with only approximately 30% of the energy associated with field-aligned wave vectors. The dissipation range wave vectors are highly oblique to the mean magnetic field with up to 96% of the energy associated with oblique wave vectors.