STORM - Solar system plasma Turbulence:  Observations, inteRmittency and Multifractals

Ulysses spacecraft

The solar wind mission


Ulysses is the first satellite that provided views of the Sun's poles. The scientific instruments on board Ulysses detect and measure solar wind ions and electrons, magnetic fields, energetic particles, cosmic rays, natural radio and plasma waves, cosmic dust, interstellar neutral gas, solar X-rays and cosmic gamma-ray bursts. The spacecraft was laubched in October 1990 and collected data until June 2009. Its orbit ranged from Jupiter to ~1.4 AU from the Sun and back out again, with a period of 6.2 years.

Ulysses data base represents the most complete set of continuous interplanetary and solar wind measurements ever recorded. The Ulysses data base is maintained by the European Space Agency and is available via a web based interface at http://ufa.esac.esa.int/ufa (the Ulysses Final Archive). This data repository will give access to magnetic field and plasma data from the solar wind in the ecliptic and polar regions, in conjunction with data from Cluster and Venus Express. Three sets of polar passes were completed during its operational lifetime: in 1994/1995, 2000/2001 and 2007/2008. Ulysses made many fundamental discoveries, and revealed the structure of the Sun and of the solar wind during the maximum and minimum phases of the solar cycle. In STORM we use data from Ulysses to characterize the turbulence of the solar wind and how its properties depend on the Sun's activity.