Turbulence is ubiquitous in the solar wind. Turbulence causes kinetic and magnetic energy to cascade to small scales where they are eventually dissipated, adding heat to the plasma. The details of how this occurs are not well understood. This article reviews the evidence for turbulent dissipation and examines various diagnostics for identifying solar wind regions where dissipation is occurring....

In this paper a procedure for the probabilistic treatment of irradiance and wind meteorological data is reported in order to evaluate the energy potential of a given site as well as the generation of electricity from photovoltaic systems (PVSs) and wind systems (WECSs). In particular the aim of the proposed analysis of recorded meteorological data is twofold: first of all to check if the real p...

[1] Geomagnetic activity has long been known to exhibit approximately 27 day periodicity, resulting from solar wind structures repeating each solar rotation. Thus a very simple near-Earth solar wind forecast is 27 day persistence, wherein the near-Earth solar wind conditions today are assumed to be identical to those 27 days previously. Effective use of such a persistence model as a forecast to...

[1] The kinetic properties of heavy ions in the solar wind reflect the plasma processes governing the solar wind in the heliosphere. We use Ulysses-SWICS data that resolve heavy ions in a wide range of mass-per-charge values, 2 m/q 9.33, to investigate the heavy ions and their dynamic evolution throughout the heliosphere. While at 1 AU the imprint of Coulomb collisions is known to be present in...

Stellar analogs for the solar wind have proven to be frustratingly difficult to detect directly. However, these stellar winds can be studied indirectly by observing the interaction regions carved out by the collisions between these winds and the interstellar medium (ISM). These interaction regions are called "astrospheres", analogous to the "heliosphere" surrounding the Sun. The heliosphere and...

The paper highlights the urgency of utilizing and promoting use of non conventional sources, particularly the wind and solar energy, so as to control the environmental pollution, such as ozone layer depletion, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, global warming etc. As a case study, the various performance factors of a 10 kW hybrid (wind and solar) power plant, which is having 60:40 power gener...

The electron temperature profile in the polar coronal hole inferred by the ionic charge state data of the fast wind exhibits a local maximum of 1:5 10 K. This indicates the existence of electron heating in the source region of the fast solar wind. In this paper, a two-fluid solar wind model, which incorporates additional ‘mechanical’ heating, is used to investigate the heating of the electrons ...

We present a further investigation into the increased ionization observed in element charge states in the fast solar wind compared to its coronal hole source regions. Once ions begin to be perpendicularly heated by ion cyclotron waves and execute large gyro-orbits, density gradients in the flow can excite lower hybrid waves that then damp by heating electrons in the parallel direction. We give ...

Using data collected by the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft in 19801 and 1981. strong evidence is presented for a direct correlation between variations in the solar wind at Saturn and the level of activity of Saturn's nonthermal radio emission. Correlation coefficients of 57-58% are reached at lag times of U-1 days between the arrival at Saturn of high pressure solar wind streams and the onset of in...

When wind or solar energy displace conventional generation, the reduction in emissions varies dramatically across the United States. Although the Southwest has the greatest solar resource, a solar panel in New Jersey displaces significantly more sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter than a panel in Arizona, resulting in 15 times more health and environmental benefits. A wind t...