Low energy ions in corotating interaction regions at 1 AU: Observations

The spacecraft ISEE-3 was launched in August 1978 and subsequently placed in orbit about the Sun-Earth L1 libration point where it continuously monitored the particles and fields in interplanetary space until mid-1982. The ISEE-3 Energetic Proton Anisotropy Spectrometer makes 3-dimensional intensity measurements of 35–1600 keV, Z ? 1 ions. This data is used in conjunction with simultaneous solar wind plasma and magnetic field data from the same spacecraft to study the properties of ions in interaction regions lying at the leading edges of nine corotating high speed solar wind streams observed during October 1978–July 1979. Seven streams have an enhancement of ? 300 keV ions in the compressed fast stream plasma between the stream interface and interaction region trailing edge. These enhancements are associated with plasma heating to above 3 × 10⁵ K, have soft spectra (spectral index ～ 4.5?6.0) and in five cases show anti-solar streaming in the solar wind frame.     

Anisotropy of > 35keV ions in corotating particle events at 1 AU

The anisotropy of 35–1000 keV ions in two corotating particle events associated with high-speed solar wind streams at 1 AU is examined in terms of the diffusion-convection propagation model using data from the Energetic Proton Anisotropy Spectrometer on ISEE-3. The calculated diffusive anisotropy in the solar wind frame is found to be sunward and closely field-aligned, with a nearly energy-independent magnitude of ～ 40%. For one stream, using the Voyager 2 data of Decker et al. (1981), a positive gradient of ～ 100%/AU is found for ? 50 keV ions between 1 and 4 AU. The observations do not appear to support the scatter-free propagation model and indicate that ions with energies as low as a few tens of keV may be in diffusive equilibrium with the solar wind in this class of events.     

Heavy ion reflection and heating by collisionless shocks in polar solar corona

We propose a new model for explaining the observations of preferential heating of heavy ions in the polar solar corona. We consider that a large number of small scale shock waves can be present in the solar corona, as suggested by recent observations of polar coronal jets by the Hinode and STEREO spacecraft. The heavy ion energization mechanism is, essentially, the ion reflection off supercritical quasi-perpendicular collisionless shocks in the corona and the subsequent acceleration by the motional electric field E=−(1/c)V ×B. The acceleration due to E is perpendicular to the magnetic field, giving rise to large temperature anisotropy with T_⊥?T_∥, which can excite ion cyclotron waves. Also, heating is more than mass proportional with respect to protons, because the heavy ion orbit is mostly upstream of the quasi-perpendicular shock foot. The observed temperature ratios between O⁵⁺ ions and protons in the polar corona, and between α particles and protons in the solar wind are easily recovered. We also discuss the mechanism of heavy ion reflection, which is based on ion gyration in the magnetic overshoot of the shock.     

In-situ Observations of a Co-rotating Interaction Region at Venus Identified by IPS and STEREO

This paper reports on the first combination of results from in-situ plasma measurements at Venus, using data from Venus Express, and remote sensing data from observations of interplanetary scintillation (IPS). In so doing, we demonstrate the value of combining remote sensing and in-situ techniques for the purpose of investigating interaction between solar wind, under several different conditions, and the Venusian magnetosphere. The ion mass analyser instrument (IMA) is used to investigate solar wind interaction with the Venusian magnetosphere in the presence of two different solar wind phenomena; a co-rotating interaction region (CIR) and a coronal mass ejection (CME). The CIR, detected with IPS and sampled in-situ at Venus is found to dramatically affect upstream solar wind conditions. These case studies demonstrate how combining results from these different data sources can be of considerable value when investigating such phenomena.     

Energization of positive ions in the cometary foreshock region

The energization of positive ions in front of a cometary bow shock is investigated. Ions produced by ionization of the cometary neutrals interact with the solar wind protons to produce, among other waves, large amplitude oscillations of the ambient magnetic field. Such oscillations are convected towards the comet at the unperturbed solar wind speed far from the shock and at a lower speed closer to the shock (due to the solar wind mass loading) ; hence, they can energize the suprathermal ions by Fermi acceleration. The spatial extension of the acceleration region is of the order of 10⁶ km and the resulting ion energy spectrum is harder than in the Earth's bow shock case. The energization of cometary ions produces an additional deceleration of the solar wind, such that the cometary bow shock of Halley-type comet may be regarded as a “cosmic ray shock”.     

Reproducible characteristics of the solar wind acceleration

In experiments that were regularly carried out in 1999–2002 with Pushchino radio telescopes (Russian Academy of Sciences), the study of the radial dependence of the scattering of radio emission from compact natural sources was extended to regions of circumsolar plasma farther from the Sun. Based on a large body of data, we show that, apart from the standard transonic acceleration region located at distances of 10–40 R_⊙ from the Sun, there is a region of repeated acceleration at distances of 34–60 R_⊙ attributable to the equality between the solar wind velocity and the Alfvénic velocity. The repetition in the trans-Alfvénic region of the characteristic features of the radial stream structure observed in the transonic region (the existence of a precursor, a narrow region of reduced scattering that precedes a wide region of enhanced scattering) suggests that the main characteristic features of the resonant acceleration of solar wind streams are preserved up to distances of the order of 60 R_⊙.     

Geoactive zones in the solar wind

Three parameters of the solar wind, proton number density n, Z-component of frozen-in magnetic field, in solar ecliptic coordinates and magnetic field variability ΔB, may be called geoactive parameters since each of them is responsible for a certain phase or stage of a geomagnetic storm.An undisturbed solar corpuscular stream differs from the quiet solar wind mainly in higher bulk velocity v; other parameters, in particular, n, Z and ΔB, are not enhanced in the stream. However, the examination of a number of geomagnetic storms shows that v is not a geoactive parameter. Hence the corpuscular stream itself is not more geoactive than the quiet solar wind.The retarding of corpuscular stream by the quiet solar wind results in various plasma deformations (compression, torsion, shear). This, in turn, leads to the creation, in the stream and ambient quiet solar wind, of geoactive zones. Each zone is characterized by the enhancement of some geoactive parameter. The entry of the Earth into a geoactive zone causes a corresponding phase or stage of a geomagnetic storm.The concept of geoactive zones is applied to the analysis of the geomagnetic storm of 8–10 July 1966.     

A Study of Correlation between Solar Wind Data Observed at Two Points in Interplanetary Space During the Recent Solar Maximum

Identifying co-rotating structures in solar wind enables us to predict solar wind variation at the Earth and, hence, geomagnetic disturbances. However, co-rotating structures during solar maximum are sometimes difficult to see. We correlated solar wind data obtained by two spacecraft, Nozomi heading towards Mars and ACE at the L1 point, from late 1999 through early 2002. There were intervals when the solar wind showed specific co-rotating structures even in the midst of the solar maximum, whereas no correlation was found during the other intervals. The coefficient was generally higher between Nozomi and ACE than for the 27-day recurrence at ACE, while there was some correlation, especially when the difference in longitude between the two spacecraft was less than 120°. Although frequency of occurrence of CMEs is partly responsible for the correlation, the results can be interpreted in terms of rapid changes in co-rotating high-speed streams from near-equatorial coronal holes at the solar maximum.     

Flow Sources and Formation Laws of Solar Wind Streams

The large-scale stream structure of the solar wind flow is studied in the main acceleration zone from 10 to 40 solar radii from the Sun. Three independent sets of experimental data were used: radio astronomical observations of radio wave scattering using the large radio telescopes of the Lebedev Physical Institute; dual-frequency Doppler solar wind speed measurements from the Ulysses Solar Corona Experiment during the spacecraft's two solar conjunctions in summer 1991 and winter 1995; solar magnetic field strength and configuration computed from Wilcox Solar Observatory data. Both the experimental data on the position of the transonic region of the solar wind flow and the solar wind speed estimates were used as parameters reflecting the intensity of the solar wind acceleration process. Correlation studies of these data with the magnetic field strength in the solar corona revealed several types of solar wind flow differing in their velocities and the location of their primary acceleration region.     

Tracking Back the Solar Wind to Its Photospheric Footpoints from Wind Observations – A Statistical Study

It is of great importance to track the solar wind back to its photospheric source region and identify the related current sheets; this will provide key information for investigating the origin and predictions of the solar wind. We report a statistical study relating the photospheric footpoint motion and in-situ observation of current sheets in the solar wind. We used the potential force-free source–surface (PFSS) model and the daily synoptic charts to trace the solar wind back from 1 AU, as observed by the Wind spacecraft, to the solar surface. As the footpoints move along the solar surface we obtain a time series of the jump times between different points. These jumps can be within a cell and between adjacent cells. We obtained the distribution of the jump times and the distribution for a subset of the jump times in which only jumps between adjacent cells were counted. For both cases, the distributions clearly show two populations. These distributions are compared with the distribution of in-situ current sheets reported in an earlier work of Miao, Peng, and Li (Ann. Geophys. 29, 237, 2011). Its implications on the origin of the current sheets are discussed.     

Energy Gain of Positive Ions in Solar Polar Coronal Holes

We have investigated heating of solar polar coronal holes and acceleration of fast solar wind by means of lower hybrid (LH) waves. A three-fluid Maxwell model comprising electrons, protons, and α-particles is employed at around two solar radii heliocentric distance, where wave dissipation starts to be dominated by collisionless processes. We suggest specific wavenumber ranges corresponding to LH as well as stochastic instabilities and find that these instabilities may bring about a significant energy gain in positive ions.     

Advanced method to derive the IMF direction near Mars from cycloidal proton distributions

In a previous paper, we showed a method for deriving the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) orientation from the velocity distribution of ring-like distributed ions as measured by the Ion Mass Analyser (IMA) on board Mars Express (MEX). This method has been improved so that one can derive the IMF orientation from a very limited portion of the ring distributions, i.e., only the highest energy portion of the ring distribution. This method uses the maximum variance direction L instead of the minimum variance direction N, which are derived from manually selected ring data. Because IMA's count rate for a semi-persistent ring distribution is nearly proportional to energy squire, L is most likely aligned to the tangential direction of the ring distribution at its highest energy, and this tangential direction is parallel or anti-parallel to the electric field. A vector product of L and the solar wind direction (X) gives the IMF orientation projected to the Y-Z plane. The tilt angle of IMF toward the X direction from the Y-Z plane is the same as the angle between the X direction and the ring plane, and is obtained from two methods when the initial speed of the ring ions is estimated to be much smaller than the solar wind speed: (1) angle between the velocity of ring's maximum energy portion and the solar wind vector, and (2) energy ratio between the solar wind and the maximum energy of the ring. The present method is applied to the IMA data from 3 June 2005 (0605-0640 UT) when the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) magnetometer data are available. Using these data, we also tried to determine the sign of the IMF direction by estimating the evolution direction of the ring ions.     

The influence of momentum addition on the acceleration of the solar and stellar winds

The influence of the momentum addition, which may be associated with the average or fluctuation transverse component of the magnetic field or others, on the acceleration the solar wind or stellar wind is studied in a local streamtube. The results show that the larger the momentum addition the stronger the acceleration of the wind. For example, if the typical transverse magnetic field is about 0.1 of the longitudinal field, the velocity of the solar wind at 1 AU may be increased by 40%. The coronal hole may be considered as a streamtube, the presence of a high stream from the coronal hole may be explained by the existence of an average or fluctuation transverse magnetic field in the streamtube. A similar conclusion may be applied to the polar region, where the velocity of the solar wind will be larger than elsewhere as if there is a transverse component of magnetic field, as well as to the stellar wind. The influence of other parameters on the acceleration of the solar wind is also discussed. From the viewpoint of the solar wind mechanism, the present paper shows that the momentum addition in the subsonic flow region can increase the velocity of the solar wind at 1 AU.     

Analysis of ion charge states in solar wind and CMEs

We discuss needs in dielectronic recombination data motivated by recent work directed at a quantitative understanding of ion charge states of various elements observed in situ in the solar wind and CMEs. The competing processes of ionization and recombination lead to departures from collision ionization equilibrium. The use of this as a diagnostic of acceleration and heating processes of the solar wind and CMEs is sensitive to the accuracy of the atomic rates in a way that steady state ionization equilibrium plasmas are not. The most pressing need is dielectronic recombination rates for ions Fe8+-12+. These are among the dominant species observed in various regions of the solar wind and CMEs, and in remotely sensed EUV spectra.     

An empirical model for solar cycle changes in mesospheric structure at longitudes 44–77°E

Rocketsonde temperature changes during the solar cycle 1971–1982 for the height range 50–80 km at four stations, which have previously been shown by Mohanakumar [(1985) Planet. Space Sci.33, 795] to correlate with the Zürich sunspot number, are further analysed to obtain a height- and latitude-dependent formula for winter and summer seasons. The analysis confirms the strong correlation previously obtained and the magnitude of the effect but provides no evidence of a N-S hemispherical difference (as previously reported) other than that associated with season. Formulae are derived for the corresponding changes in In(pressure) and geostrophic W-E wind and are evaluated at a height above the main heating region, at 90 or so km. Changes in pressure for a change in sunspot number ΔR_n = 100 amount to 18–35% according to latitude. The corresponding changes in geostrophic W-E wind are calculated and discussed in comparison with observed zonal wind changes with solar cycle. The model presented here for solar cycle temperature changes differs markedly from that obtained by numerical modelling by Garcia et al. [(1984) Planet. Space Sci.32, 411].     

Minor ions in the solar wind

Ions heavier than ⁴He are treated as “minors” in the solar wind. This is justified for many applications since minor ions have no significant influence on the dynamics of the interplanetary plasma. However, minor ions carry information on many aspects of the formation, on the acceleration and on the transfer of solar plasma from the corona into the interplanetary space. This review concentrates on various aspects of minor ions as diagnostic tracers. The elemental abundance patterns of the solar wind are shaped in the chromosphere and in the lower transition region by processes, which are not fully understood at this moment. Despite this lack of detailed understanding, observed abundance patterns have been classified and are now commonly used to characterize the sources, and to trace back solar-wind flows to their origins in the solar atmosphere. Furthermore, the solar wind is the most important source of information for solar isotopic abundances and for solar abundances of volatile elements. In order to fully exploit this information, a comprehensive understanding of elemental and isotopic fractionation processes is required. We provide observational clues to distinguish different processes at work.     

The solar wind H and He content

Charge exchange collisions between interplanetary neutral H atoms and solar wind protons may lead to fluxes of neutral H atoms and He⁺ ions in the solar wind. Photoionization of interplanetary helium atoms may also contribute to the He⁺ flux. The expected fluxes of He⁺ ions and neutral H atoms in the solar wind are computed. A simple model is used to compute the intensity of resonantly backscattered solar Hell (λ304 Å) and Lyman α radiation.     

Electric fields within the martian magnetosphere and ion extraction: ASPERA-3 observations

Observations made by the ASPERA-3 experiment onboard the Mars Express spacecraft found within the martian magnetosphere beams of planetary ions. In the energy (E/q)-time spectrograms these beams are often displayed as dispersive-like, ascending or descending (whether the spacecraft moves away or approach the planet) structures. A linear dependence between energy gained by the beam ions and the altitude from the planet suggests their acceleration in the electric field. The values of the electric field evaluated from ion energization occur close to the typical values of the interplanetary motional electric field. This suggests an effective penetration of the solar wind electric field deep into the martian magnetosphere or generation of large fields within the magnetosphere. Two different classes of events are found. At the nominal solar wind conditions, a ‘penetration’ occurs near the terminator. At the extreme solar wind conditions, the boundary of the induced magnetosphere moves to a more dense upper atmosphere that leads to a strong scavenging of planetary ions from the dayside regions.     

Numerical evaluation of statistical acceleration for energetic particles in the interplanetary medium at 2.5 and 5.0 AU

Numerical integration of particle trajectories is performed to evaluate the statistical acceleration coefficients D _TT for 1 to 100 MeV protons in a solar wind corotating interaction region (CIR) seen at 2.5 and 5.0 AU. Acceleration is followed in the solar wind reference frame and is due to random wave-particle interactions and to random drift motion in moderate scale field gradients. D _TT due to the first effect reaches a peak value of 4 × 10 ^–7 MeV² s^–1 post shock at 10 MeV at 2.5 AU consistent with estimates based both upon cyclotron resonance and transit time damping theory. D _TT from the second effect is less well established but is of the order of 10^–7 MeV² s^–1 at 10 MeV, 5 AU. A comparison is made between the time constant for statistical acceleration within this CIR and estimates for diffuse shock acceleration and adiabatic deceleration. All three time constants are of the same order, but deceleration is faster than shock acceleration which in turn is faster than statistical acceleration.     

Contributions to the cross shock electric field at supercritical perpendicular shocks: impact of the pickup ions

A particle-in-cell code is used to examine contributions of the pickup ions (PIs) and the solar wind ions (SWs) to the cross shock electric field at the supercritical, perpendicular shocks. The code treats the pickup ions self-consistently as a third component. Herein, two different runs with relative pickup ion density of 25?% and 55?% are presented in this paper. Present preliminary results show that: (1) in the low percentage (25?%) pickup ion case, the shock front is nonstationary. During the evolution of this perpendicular shock, a nonstationary foot resulting from the reflected solar wind ions is formed in front of the old ramp, and its amplitude becomes larger and larger. At last, the nonstationary foot grows up into a new ramp and exceeds the old one. Such a nonstationary process can be formed periodically. When the new ramp begins to be formed in front of the old ramp, the Hall term mainly contributed by the solar wind ions becomes more and more important. The electric field E _x is dominated by the Hall term when the new ramp exceeds the old one. Furthermore, an extended and stationary foot in pickup ion gyro-scale is located upstream of the nonstationary/self-reforming region within the shock front, and is always dominated by the Lorentz term contributed by the pickup ions; (2) in the high percentage (55?%) pickup ion case, the amplitude of the stationary foot is increased as expected. One striking point is that the nonstationary region of the shock front evidenced by the self-reformation disappears. Instead, a stationary extended foot dominated by Lorentz term contributed by the pickup ions, and a stationary ramp dominated by Hall term contributed by the solar wind ions are clearly evidenced. The significance of the cross electric field on ion dynamics is also discussed.