A characterization of the inertial range in forced-damped Hasegawa-Mima turbulence

From the nonlinear simulations of the two-dimensional forced-damped Hasegawa-Mima equation, we show that a Reynolds number-like parameter, Re-w, can represent a power law exponent of the energy spectrum in Hasegawa-Mima turbulence. Re-w is defined as the ratio of nonlinear convection to dissipation. For a same value of Re-w, the power law exponent in the inertial range is shown to be uniquely determined regardless of the forcing and dissipation conditions. At high Re-w, the power law exponent asymptotically converges to -7.2, consistent with a recent theoretical prediction based on the shell model [Gurcan et al., Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 52, 045002 ( 2010)]. Published by AIP Publishing.