Observing the characteristic velocity-space signature of particle energization mechanisms using modern spacecraft instrumentation*

Understanding how turbulent energy is transferred from large to small scales and is eventually dissipated into plasma heat, or some other form of particle energization, is a grand challenge problem at the forefront of space and astrophysical plasma physics. In weakly collisional space environments, the collisionless interactions between electromagnetic fields and individual plasma particles dictate the removal of energy from turbulent fluctuations. The novel Field-Particle Correlation technique determines how turbulent energy dissipates into plasma heat by identifying which particles in velocity-space experience a net gain of energy. Using data from a gyrokinetic simulation, we map field-particle correlations to realistic phase-space resolutions of modern spacecraft instruments to determine the limitations on resolving the velocity-space signature of field-particle correlations for ions and electrons.  We incorporate statistical models of the Poisson noise to establish the number of particle counts needed for sensible signal-to-noise ratios which facilitates a thorough investigation of implementation restraints.