Premium
Density extremes in the solar wind
Author(s) -
Crooker N. U.,
Shodhan S.,
Gosling J. T.,
Simmerer J.,
Lepping R. P.,
Steinberg J. T.,
Kahler S. W.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2000gl003788
Subject(s) - solar wind , coronal mass ejection , interplanetary spaceflight , physics , heliosphere , interplanetary magnetic field , magnetic cloud , solar cycle , atmospheric sciences , solar physics , solar maximum , corona (planetary geology) , astrophysics , computational physics , plasma , astrobiology , quantum mechanics , venus
The largest density variations in the solar wind occur near the streamer belt, where frequently they are associated with interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs). They tend to be embedded in larger‐scale regions of high pressure: high densities in ICME sheaths and corotating interaction regions and low densities in structures with distinctive, high‐magnetic‐pressure profiles, sometimes within ICMEs. On average, however, ICME densities are similar to ambient‐wind densities. For a set of 34 ICMEs identified in Wind data as magnetic clouds, the average density was 11 cm −3 in both the clouds and all slow wind during the same period. A set of low‐density structures observed earlier by ISEE 3 recurred for three solar rotations, possibly owing to recurrence of the streamer belt itself, with its frequent transient outflows. Density averages less than 1 cm −3 show a possible solar cycle variation which peaks 1–2 years prior to the peak of ICME signatures.