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Comparison of Solar Wind Speeds Using Wavelet Transform and Fourier Analysis in IPS Data

  • Radio Heliophysics: Science and Forecasting
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Abstract

The power spectra of intensity fluctuations in interplanetary scintillation (IPS) observations can be used to estimate solar-wind speeds in the inner heliosphere. We obtain and then compare IPS spectra from both wavelet and Fourier analyses for 12 time series of the radio source 3C48; these observations were carried out at Japan’s Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory (STEL) facility, at 327 MHz. We show that wavelet and Fourier analyses yield very similar power spectra. Thus, when fitting a model to spectra to determine solar-wind speeds, both yield comparable results. Although spectra from wavelet and Fourier closely match each other for solar-wind speed purposes, those from the wavelet analysis are slightly cleaner, which is reflected in an apparent level of intensity fluctuations that is enhanced, being ≈ 13 % higher. This is potentially useful for records that show a low signal-to-noise ratio.

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Acknowledgements

The STEL IPS observations were carried out under the solar-wind program of the Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory (STEL) of Nagoya University. Wavelet software was provided by C. Torrence and G. Compo, and is available at URL: http://atoc.colorado.edu/research/wavelets/ . E. Aguilar-Rodriguez acknowledges the DGAPA/PAPIIT project (grant: IN103615) and the CONACyT project (grant: 220981), Ernesto Andrade-Mascote, and Pablo Villanueva-Hernandez. J.C. Mejia-Ambriz acknowledges the Cátedras CONACyT project 1045: Servicio de Clima Espacial México (SCiESMEX). B.V. Jackson and a portion of Mejia-Ambriz’s stay at UCSD have been funded by NSF contract AGS-1053766 to the University of California, San Diego. B.V. Jackson has also been supported by AFOSR contract FA9550-11-1-0324. J.A. Gonzalez-Esparza thanks for the DGAPA-PAPIIT grant IN109413 and CONACyT grant 152471. M. Rodriguez-Martinez acknowledges the DGAPA-PAPIIT project IA102514 and the CONACyT Infrastructure Grant: 253691. M. Tokumaru thanks the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) for financial support by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A) No. 25247079. P.K. Manoharan acknowledges partial support by the CAWSES-India Program, sponsored by ISRO.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Geofisica, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Morelia, Mexico

    E. Aguilar-Rodriguez, E. Romero-Hernandez & J. A. Gonzalez-Esparza

  2. Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0424, USA

    J. C. Mejia-Ambriz, B. V. Jackson, A. Buffington & P. Hick

  3. ENES-Morelia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Morelia, Mexico

    M. Rodriguez-Martinez

  4. Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory, Nagoya University, Nagoya, 464-8601, Japan

    M. Tokumaru

  5. Radio Astronomy Centre, National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, P.O. Box 8, Udhagamandalam (Ooty), 643001, India

    P. K. Manoharan

  6. SCiESMEX, Instituto de Geofisica, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Morelia, Mexico

    J. C. Mejia-Ambriz

Authors
  1. E. Aguilar-Rodriguez
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  2. J. C. Mejia-Ambriz
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  3. B. V. Jackson
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  4. A. Buffington
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  5. E. Romero-Hernandez
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  6. J. A. Gonzalez-Esparza
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  7. M. Rodriguez-Martinez
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  8. P. Hick
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  9. M. Tokumaru
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  10. P. K. Manoharan
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Correspondence to E. Aguilar-Rodriguez.

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Radio Heliophysics: Science and Forecasting

Guest Editors: Mario M. Bisi, Bernard V. Jackson, and J. Americo Gonzalez-Esparza

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Aguilar-Rodriguez, E., Mejia-Ambriz, J.C., Jackson, B.V. et al. Comparison of Solar Wind Speeds Using Wavelet Transform and Fourier Analysis in IPS Data. Sol Phys 290, 2507–2518 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-015-0758-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-015-0758-0

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