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Coronal mass ejections and large geomagnetic storms
Author(s) -
Gosling J. T.,
Bame S. J.,
McComas D. J.,
Phillips J. L.
Publication year - 1990
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/gl017i007p00901
Subject(s) - coronal mass ejection , geomagnetic storm , solar wind , interplanetary spaceflight , physics , earth's magnetic field , geophysics , interplanetary medium , space weather , solar energetic particles , astronomy , astrophysics , atmospheric sciences , magnetic field , quantum mechanics
Previous work indicates that coronal mass ejection (CME) events in the solar wind at 1 AU can be identified by the presence of a flux of counterstreaming solar wind halo electrons (above about 80 eV). Using this technique to identify CMEs in 1 AU plasma data, we find that most large geomagnetic storms during the interval surrounding the last solar maximum (Aug. 1978 – Oct. 1982) were associated with Earth‐passage of interplanetary disturbances in which the Earth encountered both a shock and the CME driving the shock. However, only about one CME in six encountered by Earth was effective in causing a large geomagnetic storm. Slow CMEs which did not interact strongly with the ambient wind ahead were particularly ineffective in a geomagnetic sense.