Authors: F. Pecora (U. of Delaware), G. Nisticò (U. of Calabria), Y. Yang (U. of Delaware), R. Chhiber(U. of Delaware, NASA Goddard), S. Gibson (NCAR), N. Viall-Kepko (NASA Goddard), C. De Forest (SWRI), W. H. Matthaeus (U. of Delaware)
Understanding the evolution of turbulence fluctuations in the solar wind from the Sun into the inner heliosphere is a core science objective of the PUNCH mission.
To prepare for PUNCH data analysis, we employ a complementary approach using white-light images from the WISPR instrument onboard Parker Solar Probe (PSP). While PUNCH provides global information and resolves large-scale turbulence, PSP dwells in the near-sun environment for short times and with a limited field of view, possibly providing information on the intermediate (inertial) range of scales.
By systematically combining spectral analyses of WISPR and PUNCH data, we aim to provide the first direct observation of the evolution of turbulent fluctuations throughout the inner heliosphere.