Accessibility navigation


Intermittent release of transients in the slow solar wind: 2. In situ evidence

Rouillard, A. P., Lavraud, B., Davies, J. A., Savani, N. P., Burlaga, L. F., Forsyth, R. J., Sauvaud, J.-A., Opitz, A., Lockwood, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7397-2172, Luhmann, J. G., Simunac, K. D. C., Galvin, A. B., Davis, C. J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6411-5649 and Harrison, R. A. (2010) Intermittent release of transients in the slow solar wind: 2. In situ evidence. Journal of Geophysical Research, 115. A04104. ISSN 0148-0227

[img]
Preview
Text - Published Version
· Please see our End User Agreement before downloading.

577kB

It is advisable to refer to the publisher's version if you intend to cite from this work. See Guidance on citing.

To link to this item DOI: 10.1029/2009JA014472

Abstract/Summary

In paper 1, we showed that the Heliospheric Imager (HI) instruments on the pair of NASA STEREO spacecraft can be used to image the streamer belt and, in particular, the variability of the slow solar wind which originates near helmet streamers. The observation of intense intermittent transient outflow by HI implies that the corresponding in situ observations of the slow solar wind and corotating interaction regions (CIRs) should contain many signatures of transients. In the present paper, we compare the HI observations with in situ measurements from the STEREO and ACE spacecraft. Analysis of the solar wind ion, magnetic field, and suprathermal electron flux measurements from the STEREO spacecraft reveals the presence of both closed and partially disconnected interplanetary magnetic field lines permeating the slow solar wind. We predict that one of the transients embedded within the second CIR (CIR‐D in paper 1) should impact the near‐Earth ACE spacecraft. ACE measurements confirm the presence of a transient at the time of CIR passage; the transient signature includes helical magnetic fields and bidirectional suprathermal electrons. On the same day, a strahl electron dropout is observed at STEREO‐B, correlated with the passage of a high plasma beta structure. Unlike ACE, STEREO‐B observes the transient a few hours ahead of the CIR. STEREO‐A, STEREO‐B, and ACE spacecraft observe very different slow solar wind properties ahead of and during the CIR analyzed in this paper, which we associate with the intermittent release of transients.

Item Type:Article
Refereed:Yes
Divisions:Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology
ID Code:7207
Uncontrolled Keywords:solar wind interplanetary medium ejecta Interplanetary Physics: Corotating streams Discontinuities Interplanetary dust Solar wind plasma Solar wind sources
Publisher:American Geophysical Union

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

University Staff: Request a correction | Centaur Editors: Update this record

Page navigation