Inmaculada Fernandez Albert is currently a PhD student at the University of Murcia. She will present her most recent work on ion-scale current sheets in the Solar Wind.
Abstract : Thanks to the high cadence of Solar Orbiter data, in particular the SWA-PAS instrument, we can now resolve ion velocity distribution functions inside current sheets of thicknesses in the range of a few proton inertial lengths This allows us to search for reconnection signatures at scales near the ion spectral break of the turbulent cascade. We present an algorithm for automatic identification of small-scale reconnecting current sheets in the solar wind, currently under development.
Preliminary results will be shown, consisting of a catalog of small-scale current sheets in the solar wind and an assessment of reconnection frequency and prevalence.