Features of the Spectral Characteristics of Plasma Fluctuations in Different Large-Scale Streams of the Solar Wind

Abstract

The turbulent characteristics of plasma fluctuations in the solar wind (SW) may substantially change depending on the SW conditions. Large-scale streams of different types, such as undisturbed slow solar wind, fast solar wind, interplanetary coronal mass ejection (EJECTA), magnetic cloud (MC), the compression region at the boundary between fast and slow streams (CIR), and the compression region in front of the EJECTA/MC (SHEATH), are usually characterized by specific plasma parameter values, which may influence turbulent cascade formation. In this paper, we analyze the properties of the spectra of ion flux fluctuations in the SW in the region of transition from the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) scale to the kinetic one. The analysis is based on measurements carried out with the BMSW plasma spectrometer onboard the SPEKTR-R spacecraft with a high time resolution. The observational intervals inside the SW streams of different large-scale types are considered, and the main turbulence characteristics in these streams are compared. It was shown that the properties of the fluctuation spectra may strongly depend on the SW type; in particular, the spectrum of kinetic-scale fluctuations usually becomes much steeper inside the MC regions and the compression regions in front of them, as well as in the CIR. The characteristics of the fluctuation spectra on MHD scale are less dependent on the type of large-scale SW structures, and, on average, they correspond to the Kolmogorov spectra. However, it can be noted that the smallest spectral slopes are observed in the slow undisturbed solar wind, which is indicative of the differences from the traditional Kolmogorov model of the developed turbulence.