2024/09/04 by Supratik Banerjee, Mondal, Shiladittya, Banerjee, Supratik +2 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2409.03090
The solar wind is highly turbulent, and intermittency effects are observed for fluctuations within the inertial range. By analyzing magnetic field spectra and fourth-order moments, we perform a comparative study of turbulence and intermittency in different types of solar wind measured during periods of solar minima and a maximum. Using eight fast solar wind intervals measured during solar minima between 0.3 au and 3.16 au, we found a clear signature of two inertial sub-ranges with f-3/2 and f-5/3 power laws in the magnetic power spectra. The intermittency, measured through the scaling law of the kurtosis of magnetic field fluctuations, further confirms the existence of two different power laws separated by a clear break. A systematic study on the evolution of the said sub-ranges as a function of heliospheric distance shows correlation of the break scale with both the turbulence outer scale and the typical ion scales. During solar maximum, on the contrary, the two sub-ranges are not omnipresent, thus showing more variability in the power spectra and intermittency scaling properties.