On the Estimate of Frequency Break and Spectral Index at Ion Scales for Interplanetary Magnetic Field Fluctuations

Abstract:

We exploited radial alignments between MESSENGER and WIND spacecraft to study: 1) the radial dependence of the spectral break located at the border between fluid and kinetic regimes; 2) the dependence, if any, of the spectral slope, around the frequency break, on the type of wind, either fast or slow.
We found that this spectral break moves to lower and lower frequencies as heliocentric distance increases, following a power-law dependence. Moreover, we found evidence that a cyclotron-resonant dissipation mechanism must participate into the spectral energy cascade together with other possible kinetic noncyclotron-resonant mechanisms.
On the other hand, the spectral slope shows a large variability between -3.75 and -1.75 with an average value around -2.8 and a robust tendency for this parameter to be steeper within the trailing edge of high speed streams and to be flatter within the subsequent slower wind, following a gradual transition between these two states. The value of the spectral index seems to depend firmly on the power associated to the fluctuations within the inertial range, higher the power steeper the slope.

Research partially supported by the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, contract ASI/INAF I/013/12/0 and by the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 313038/STORM