Observation of Kolmogorov Turbulence in the Jovian Magnetosheath From JADE Data

Abstract

AbstractPower spectra of magnetic‐field fluctuations near Jupiter have been analyzed since the early days of space exploration with Voyager and Ulysses flyby of Jupiter. Power spectra of velocity and density fluctuations, however, have not been as well studied, due to the lack of high‐resolution measurements required to resolve a significant fraction of the inertial range. Here, we investigate fluid‐scale turbulence in Jupiter's magnetosheath using measurements from the Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE) instrument onboard Juno spacecraft. Both ion density and velocity spectra exhibit nearly Kolmogorov scaling ∼f−5/3. This indicates weakly compressible fluctuations and the presence of a scale‐invariant cascade through the inertial range. Although this is a specific case study and not necessarily representative of the overall behavior, our result shows that Alfvénic Kolmogorov‐type turbulence exists in at least some locations in Jupiter's magnetosheath.