2014/04/10 by M. E. Ruiz, S. Dasso, W. H. Matthaeus +1 · 44 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Coronal hole #Coronal mass ejection #Heliosphere #Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics #Range (aeronautics) #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #Solar cycle #Solar maximum #Solar minimum #Solar rotation #Solar wind #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #Turbulence #astro-ph.SR #physics.plasm-ph #physics.space-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s11207-014-0531-9
published in Solar Physics 289(10), 3917-3933 (Springer Science+Business Media)
arxiv created 2014/04/10 · openalex publication_date 2014/05/05 · arxiv updated 2015/06/19 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The solar wind is a structured and complex system, in which the fields vary strongly over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. As an example, the turbulent activity in the wind affects the evolution in the heliosphere of the integral turbulent scale or correlation length [λ], usually associated with the breakpoint in the turbulent-energy spectrum that separates the inertial range from the injection range. This large variability of the fields demands a statistical description of the solar wind. In this work, we study the probability distribution function (PDF) of the magnetic autocorrelation lengths observed in the solar wind at different distances from the Sun. We use observations from Helios, ACE, and Ulysses spacecraft. We distinguish between the usual solar wind and one of its transient components (Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections, ICMEs), and study also solar wind samples with low and high proton beta [βp ]. We find that in the last 3 regimes the PDF of λ is a log-normal function, consistent with the multiplicative and non-linear processes that take place in the solar wind, the initial λ (before the Alfvénic point) being larger in ICMEs.