Coronal and interplanetary transport of solar energetic protons and electrons

We present a new method to separate interplanetary and coronal propagation, starting from intensity variations observed by spaceprobes at different heliolongitudes. In general, a decrease in absolute intensities is observed simultaneously with an increase in temporal delays. The coupling of these two effects can be described by Reid's model of coronal diffusion and can in principle be used to determine the two coronal time constants, diffusion time t _c and escape time A. In addition, a least-squares fit method is used to determine the parameters of interplanetary transport, assuming a radial dependence as (r) = ₀(r/1 AU)^b. The method is applied to the two solar events of 27 December, 1977 and 1 January, 1978 which were observed by the spaceprobes Helios 1, Helios 2, and Prognoz 6. Energetic particle data are analysed for 13–27 MeV protons and -0.5 MeV electrons. For the regions in space encountered during these events the mean free path of electrons is smaller than that of protons. Straight interpolation between the two rigidities leads to a rather flat rigidity dependence (P) P ⁿ with n = 0.17–0.25. This contradicts the prediction of a constant mean free path or of the transition to scatter-free propagation below about 100 MV rigidity. In three of the four cases the mean free path of 13–27 MeV protons is of the order 0.17 AU, the mean free path of electrons of the order 0.06 AU. For protons we find b - 0.7 for the exponent of the radial variation.The concept of two different coronal propagation regimes is confirmed. It is remarkable that in both regimes electrons are transported more efficiently than protons. This holds for the temporal delay as well as for the amplitude decrease. This is in contrast with the long existing concept of rigidity independent transport and puts severe limits to any model of coronal transport. For the December event all three spaceprobes are in the fast propagation regime up to an angular distance of 62°. For protons we find a finite delay even in the fast propagation region, corresponding to a coronal delay rate of about 0.8 hr rad^-1 up to 60° angular distance. In contrast, relativistic electrons may reach this distance within a few minutes.The fast transport of electrons and the different behaviour of electrons and protons is in contradiction to the expanding bottle concept. An explanation of coronal transport by shock acceleration directly on open field lines could in principle work in case of protons in the fast propagation region, but would fail in case of the electrons. The fast and efficient transport of electrons is most likely due to a region of field lines extending over a wide range of longitudes directly from the active region into interplanetary space. The much slower transport of both particle types at large azimuthal distances can neither be explained by direct access to open field lines not by the direct shock acceleration concept. A possible explanation is the loop reconnection model in a modified version, allowing for a faster lateral transport of electrons.Now at AEG, 2000 Wedel, F.R.G.     

Relation of cosmic-ray variations to interplanetary plasma observations for the event of 15 February, 1978

A very rapid, almost symmetric, spike-like cosmic-ray depression occurred on 15 February, 1978, and was detected by the whole network of neutron monitors and underground meson telescopes. It is suggested that this rare cosmic-ray depression was related with the solar flares of 13 February, 1978 and was caused by one forward interplanetary shock wave, taking place in the leading edge of a fast solar wind stream, rather than a shock pair.     

A comparison of energetic storm protons to halo protons

Satellite observations of solar proton events with a halo structure or an energetic storm proton event and an SSC are studied. It is pointed out that some SSC events are associated with a decrease in the few MeV cosmic ray fluxes while most are associated with a flux increase. The properties of halo protons and energetic storm protons are compared. It is hypothesized that the two events are similar in origin. The propagation mode of storm particles is discussed. Evidence is presented for a solar, rather than interplanetary origin of storm protons.     

Energetic protons associated with a forward-reverse interplanetary shock pair at 1 A.U.

A forward-reverse interplanetary shock was observed on 25 March 1969 by the magnetometer and plasma detector on the HEOS-1 satellite. This relatively rare event was described by Chao et al (1972) who concluded that the shock pair was formed at a distance 0.10–0.13 A.U. upstream of the Earth as a result of the interaction between a fast and a slow solar wind streams. Simultaneous observations of 1 MeV solar proton fluxes were also performed on HEOS-1. A characteristic intensity peak was observed as the forward shock passed by the spacecraft. The evolution of the proton intensity, together with a detailed analysis of anisotropies and pitch angle distributions show a complex dynamic picture of the effect of the forward shock on the ambient proton population. Significant changes in particle fluxes are seen to be correlated with fluctuations in the magnetic field. It is suggested that simple geometrical models of shock-associated acceleration should be expanded to include the effect of magnetic fluctuations on particle fluxes. The interaction region limited by the forward and reverse shocks contained a large variety of magnetic fluctuations. Following the tangential discontinuity separating the fast solar wind stream from the preceding slow stream, a sunward flow was observed in the proton data, followed by a small but significant drop in intensity prior to the reverse shock.     

14 July 2000, a near-global coronal event and its association with energetic electron events detected in the interplanetary medium

On 14 July 2000, the LASCO coronagraphs showed a very fast halo coronal mass ejection in association with the radio bursts seen shortly after 10:00 UT. Radio imaging observations by the Nançay radioheliograph (NRH) of these bursts showed a very complex event that can be regarded as global: the sources encompassed all the visible range in longitude and a huge span in latitude. Another interesting feature of the radio event is its recurrent nature: after the most intense phase shortly after 10:00 UT, two other strong outbursts are detected, one at about 12:50 UT and another at about 13:48 UT. All of these sub-events showed similar development and likely evidence for CMEs. The launch of a CME in association with the 14:00 UT sub-event is inferred from WIND/WAVES, with interplanetary type II signatures in the hectometric wavelength range at that time. These later events were not detected by LASCO due to energetic particles hitting the CCD. During the Bastille Day event, energetic particle observations measured in situ by ACE/EPAM are dominated by energetic electrons. Changes in anisotropy and energy spectrum of the ～38–350 keV electrons suggest a good correlation with the coronal radio observations. In addition to the three main radio events and particle observations, the NRH data reveal moving features in the southern hemisphere. These moving features, located at about 45 deg south and with an angular extent of about 45 deg, are illuminated by non-thermal electrons and are seen at distances up to 2.5 solar radii from the Sun center. More generally, we interpret the global and recurrent coronal activity, revealed by the radio data, as responsible for populating the interplanetary medium with energetic electrons.     

Numerical studies of the transport of solar protons in interplanetary space

Numerical solutions of the Fokker-Planck equation governing the transport of solar protons are obtained using the Crank-Nicholson technique with the diffusion coefficient represented by K_r=K₀r^b where r is radial distance from the Sun and b can take on positive or negative values. As b ranges from +1 to ?3, the time to the observation of peak flux decreases by a factor of 5 for 1 MeV protons when $\text{V}\text{K}{}_0\text{=}\text{3 AU}{}^{\mathrm{b?1}}$ where V is the solar wind speed. The time to peak flux is found to be very insensitive to assumptions concerning the solar and outer scattering boundary conditions and the presence of exponential time decay in the flux does not depend on the existence of an outer boundary. At $\text{V}\text{K}{}_0\text{? 15 AU}{}^{\mathrm{b?1}}$, 1 MeV particles come from the Sun by an almost entirely convective process and suffer large adiabatic deceleration at b?0 but for b=+1, large Fermi acceleration is possible at all reasonable $\text{V}\text{K}{}_0$ values. Implications of this result for the calculation and measurement of particle diffusion coefficients is discussed. At $\text{b?0}$, the pure diffusion approximation to transport overestimates by a factor 2 or more the time to peak flux but as b becomes more negative, the additional effects of convection and energy loss become less important.     

Evolution of energetic protons in twisted magnetic loops

We study the evolution of an ensemble of energetic (1 GeV) protons in a twisted force-free magnetic loop. The protons are followed with a bounce-average method and they are subjected to collisions with ambient gas and pitch-angle scattering by plasrma turbulence in the loop. The proton loss is initially by drift and later by scattering into the loss cone. Gamma rays are produced by pion decays resulting from nuclear reactions of these lost protons. It is found that in order to have long-lasting protons, one of the following scenarios should hold: (1) For small loops (of length 2 × 10⁹ cm), the twist angle should be about 2 and the turbulence level below 10^–8 erg cm^–3. (2) For large loops ( 10¹⁰ cm), the turbulence level should be below 10^–6 erg cm^–3. These set the conditions for testing the trapping picture as a viable explanation for the observed eight-hour gamma-ray emission.     

North/south asymmetric entry of solar protons during the November 18, 1968 event

Solar proton observations by the ESRO IA satellite are presented for the November 18, 1968 event. The time history of proton influx over the polar regions, showing a clear north/south asymmetry during the onset phase of the event, is presented.     

Long-term effects of an interplanetary shock on the flux and anisotropy profiles of the associated low-energy particle event

A large energetic storm particle event associated with an interplanetary shock was detected by ISEE-3 on 24 April, 1979. We have studied the effects of this shock on the flux and anisotropy profiles in the upstream region of the particle event, and we have developed a propagation model that permits to reproduce the observations. This model includes particle injection, both at the Sun and at the shock, therefore it allows to study the parameters for the interplanetary propagation of low-energy particles, the particle injection rates, and to relate them to the conditions at the shock front.Paper presented at the 11 th European Regional Astronomical Meetings of the IAU on New Windows to the Universe, held 3–8 July, 1989, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.     

Sources and losses of energetic protons in Saturn's magnetosphere

We present Cassini data revealing that protons between a few keV and about 100 keV energy are not stably trapped in Saturn's inner magnetosphere. Instead these ions are present only for relatively short times following injections. Injected protons are lost principally because the neutral gas cloud converts these particles to energetic neutral atoms via charge exchange. At higher energies, in the MeV to GeV range, protons are stably trapped between the orbits of the principal moons because the proton cross-section for charge exchange is very small at such energies. These protons likely result from cosmic ray albedo neutron decay (CRAND) and are lost principally to interactions with satellite surfaces and ring particles during magnetospheric radial diffusion. A main result of this work is to show that the dominant energetic proton loss and source processes are a function of proton energy. Surface sputtering by keV ions is revisited based on the reduced ion intensities observed. Relatively speaking, MeV ion and electron weathering is most important closer to Saturn, e.g. at Janus and Mimas, whereas keV ion weathering is most important farther out, at Dione and Rhea.     

Bow shock protons in the lunar environment

Protons from the Earth's bow shock are observed by the Suprathermal Ion detector Experiment (SIDE) in two regions of the lunar orbit. The dawn region begins at the dawn side bow shock crossing and ends ç 5 days later and the dusk region begins at ç 2 days prior to entering the dusk side magnetosheath and ends at the inbound bow shock crossing. Dusk and dawn refer to a terrestrial coordinate system. The dominant contribution to the ion spectra observed by the SIDE in these regions is from particles with energies between ç 750 eV q^–1 and 3500 eV q^–1. 3500 eVq^–1 is the upper limit of the energy range of the detector. Analysis of simultaneous data from the Explorer 35 magnetometer and the SIDE indicates that the observability of bow shock protons at the lunar distance is dependent on the configuration of the interplanetary magnetic field.Paper presented at the Conference on Interactions of the Interplanetary Plasma with the Modern and Ancient Moon, sponsored by the Lunar Science Institute, Houston, Texas and held at the Lake Geneva Campus of George Williams College, Wisconsin, between September 30 and October 4, 1974.     

Interaction of interplanetary shocks with the bow shock

Fast forward interplanetary (IP) shocks have been identified as a source of large geomagnetic disturbances. However, the shocks can evolve in the solar wind, they are modified by interaction with the bow shock and during their propagation through the magnetosheath. A few previous papers refer the inclination and deceleration of the IP shock front in this region. Our contribution continues this effort and presents the study of an IP shock interaction with the bow shock. Since the bow shock is a reversed fast shock, the interaction of the IP shock and bow shock is a problem of interaction of two fast MHD shocks.

We compare profiles of magnetic field and plasma parameters observed by several spacecraft in the solar wind and magnetosheath with the profiles of the same parameters resulting from the MHD numerical model. The MHD model suggests that the interaction of an IP shock with the bow shock results in an inward bow shock displacement that is followed by its outward motion. Such motion will result in an indentation propagating along the bow shock surface. This scenario is confirmed by multipoint observations. Moreover, the model confirms also previous suggestions on the IP shock deceleration in the magnetosheath.     

Electrons and protons in long-lived streams of energetic solar particles

In 1966 and 1967 many long-lived streams of low-energy solar electrons and protons were observed near Earth. These streams were sometimes associated with bright flares which occurred many hours earlier and sometimes no individual flare could be found. In the latter case the particles are evidently to be associated in a general way with solar active centers as Fan et al. (1968) have done. The long-lived solar events discussed here include energetic storm particles, delayed events and fluxes associated with solar active regions. It is suggested here that these are all probably the same basic phenomena viewed in somewhat different ways depending on the age of the region and its location on the solar disc. These events are usually associated with a depression in the sea-level neutron intensity and one or more sudden commencements or sudden impulses. Both electrons and protons are present in these events but in several cases electrons were not detected. The most unusual feature is that when both particle species are present, the electron flux is centered several hours before the proton flux.     

Interaction of interplanetary MHD shock waves with the magnetopause

The interaction between a shock-wave and the magnetopause is formulated on the basis of one-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics. The magnetopause is assumed to be a tangential discontinuity, and the magnetic field is limited to the case of perpendicularity. Both the forward and reverse shocks' impact on the magnetopause are considered and analyzed separately. The forward shock-magnetopause interaction results in a transmitted shock, a tangential discontinuity, and a simple rarefaction wave. The reverse shock-magnetopause interaction creates a transmitted shock, a tangential discontinuity, and a reflected wave. The propagation of an SSC signal which is related to an interplanetary shock-induced geomagnetic storm's onset-time on Earth is discussed in general terms. It was found in earlier work (Shen and Dryer, 1972) that the propagation velocity of an inter-planetary shock is decreased by about 1015% following its impact with the earth's bow shock; the present study shows that its velocity is then suddenly increased by a factor of two to three after impact with the magnetopause. The fast propagating shock-wave inside the magnetosphere degenerates into a hydromagnetic wave as it advances into an increasing intensity of the distorted dipole geomagnetic field.     

The effect of interplanetary acceleration on the propagation of energetic solar particles in prompt events

Crank-Nicholson solutions are obtained to the time-dependent Fokker-Planck equation for propagation in the interplanetary medium following a point in time injection of energetic solar particles and including the acceleration terms $$\frac{\partial }{{\partial T}}\left( {D_{TT} \frac{{\partial U}}{{\partial T}}} \right) - \frac{\partial }{{\partial T}}\left( {\frac{{D_{TT} U}}{{2T}}} \right)$$ . The diffusion coefficient in kinetic energyD _TT is allowed to be either independent of radial distance,R(AU), or follow the lawD _TT=D₀T²R ₀ ² /(A²+R²) in either case with the 1 AU value ofD _TT at 10 MeV ranging between 10^?4 (MeV)² s^?1 and zero. The spatial diffusion mean free path at the Earth's orbit is fixed at λ_‖ AU at 10 MeV according to numerical estimates made by Moussas and Quenby. However, a variety ofR dependences are allowed. Reasonable agreement with experimental data out to 4 AU is obtained with the above values ofD _TT and the spatial diffusion coefficientK _r=K₀R^?2 forR«1 andK _r=K₀R^0.4 forR»1 AU. It is only in the decay phases of prompt events as seen at 2–4 AU that significant differences in the temporal behaviour of the events can be distinguished, depending on the value ofD _TT chosen within the above range. Experimental determination of the decay constant is difficult.     

Optimization of the interplanetary energetic proton flux database and its application in modeling radiation conditions

The dissimilarity of the results of solar and galactic proton flux measurements made on different spacecraft is pointed out. It is caused, in addition to instrument errors, by differences in the temporal and spatial conditions of the measurements. We suggest using statistical analysis of proton fluences calculated for different long time intervals, from half a year to 10 years, for the optimization of the interplanetary proton database. An example of such analysis is presented and a probabilistic model of total proton fluences at the Earth’s orbit outside the magnetosphere, constructed using the analysis, is described. A formalized method for separating proton fluxes in solar proton events from protons of galactic cosmic rays is suggested. A conclusion is made that sources of cosmic ray protons with energies of less than 4 MeV should be examined in more detail.     

Solar and interplanetary observations of the mass ejection on 7 May, 1979

We present observations of a mass ejection that was observed by five different instruments along its way from the solar surface to more than 100 solar radii. The instruments involved are the ground-based H coronagraph at Wrocaw, the white-light SOLWIND coronagraph on board the P78-1 satellite, zodiacal light photometers of the HELIOS B spacecraft, in situ plasma detectors and magnetometers on board the HELIOS B spacecraft, and interplanetary scintillation measurements on the ground. By using a CAT-scan analysis of the images obtained by the SOLWIND coronagraph near the Earth and HELIOS B photometers placed at 0.3 AU perpendicular to the Earth-Sun line, we have been able to get a three-dimensional density reconstruction of the mass ejection and fit the best velocity curve for its propagation. Although problems exist in smoothly joining the height-time curves (for instance, we had to reduce the brightness of the SOLWIND data by more than a factor of two to make the data sets agree photometrically), both this analysis and direct measurements by the other experiments clearly indicate higher speeds at greater distances from the Sun. The plasma acceleration in this case was obviously not limited only to distances within 3 R ₀ , as is usually the case, but continued beyond the outer limit of the coronagraph view at 8 R ₀ .The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.     

Propagation of solar flare-associated interplanetary shock waves in the heliospheric meridional plane

We have analyzed 149 flare-associated shock wave events based on interplanetary scintillation (IPS) observational data. All of the flare-associated shock waves tend to propagate toward the low latitude region near the solar equator for flares that are located in both the solar northern and southern hemispheres. Also, the fastest propagation directions tend toward the heliospheric current sheet near 1 AU. We suggest that this tendency is caused by the dynamic action of near-Sun magnetic forces on the ejected coronal plasma that traverses the helmet-like magnetic topologies near the Sun outward to the classical topology that is essentially parallel to the heliospheric current sheet.     

Strong cylindrical magnetogasdynamic shock waves in a rotating interplanetary medium

Strong cylindrical magnetogasdynamic shock waves in rotating interplanetary medium has been studied and an analytic solution for their propagation has been obtained. Using characteristic method and considering the effect of Coriolis force, we have shown that magnetic field has significant effect on the velocity of the shock wave.