Heliophysics Science: Transients Structures Ambient Solar Wind

Organization

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

0151-NPP-NOV
26-GSFC-Helio Sci

11/1/2026 6:00:59 PM Eastern Time Zone

The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers unique research opportunities to highly-talented scientists to engage in ongoing NASA research projects at a NASA Center, NASA Headquarters, or at a NASA-affiliated research institute. These one- to three-year fellowships are competitive and are designed to advance NASA’s missions in space science, Earth science, aeronautics, space operations, exploration systems, and astrobiology. This research effort is on the origin and evolution of small scale transients in the ambient solar wind.

Remote and in situ sensing instrumentation regularly observe quiet-time plasma density structures in the inner corona, through the inner Heliosphere, all the way out to 1 AU. Many of these density fluctuations may be a consequence of the turbulent cascade, but it has been shown through compositional data in situ and remote sensing data that many density structures are non-turbulent.

Both turbulent and non-turbulent structures are created with specific properties as a consequence of their source locations, and/or the solar wind acceleration mechanism, so understanding their formation is a vital aspect of the Sun-Earth connection. Such density structures are pressure oscillations in the rest frame of solar system bodies such as Earth’s magnetosphere, and have been shown to drive important dynamics and oscillations.

Ongoing investigations include the analysis of both remote sensing data and in situ data, as well as the relationship between them; time series/spectral analysis of these data plays the primary role.

Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland

Heliophysics Science

Nicholeen Viall-Kepko

nicholeen.m.viall

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• Degree:
  Doctoral Degree.