Properties of Magnetic Field Fluctuations in Long-Lasting Radial IMF Events from Wind Observation

Abstract

Long-lasting radial interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) intervals in which IMF points along the solar wind velocity for several hours have many interesting properties. We investigate the average parameters and the behavior of magnetic field fluctuations within 419 such radial intervals. The power spectral density (PSD) calculated over 1-h intervals of a radial IMF is compared with PSDs in adjacent regions prior to and after the radial IMF. We concentrate on (1) the power of IMF fluctuations, (2) the median slopes of PSDs in both inertial and kinetic ranges, (3) the proton temperature and its anisotropy, and (4) the occurrence rate of wavy structures and their polarization. We have shown that the fluctuation amplitude is low in the radial IMF intervals in both magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) and kinetic ranges, and the spectral power increases with the cone angle in the MHD range. We discuss this effect in the light of present knowledge on plasma turbulence and peculiarities of observations of magnetic field variations under the radial background magnetic field. We found that in the radial IMF events, the proton temperature is more isotropic, the occurrence rate of waves is higher, and the waves have no preferred polarization in the frequency range from 0.1 to 1 Hz. It suggests that the radial IMF structure leads to a different development of turbulence than the typical Parker-spiral structure.

Keywords

• solar wind
• radial IMF
• fluctuation
• temperature anisotropy
• wave