A. R. Breen

Interaction between coronal mass ejections and the solar wind

[1] Observations suggest that the interplanetary extensions of coronal mass ejections (iCMEs) may be accelerated or decelerated in their passage through the solar wind. Interplanetary scintillation measurements (IPS) can detect the passage of iCMEs beyond the field of view of the Large-Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph coronagraphs and can provide information on their velocities. The European Incoherent Scatter Radar and the Multi Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network systems, with a field of view covering 10–120 solar radii, can provide information on iCMEs in the inner regions of the solar wind. IPS observations can also provide solar wind velocity measurements ahead of the iCME, and using this information, we consider the velocity profile of a number of clearly defined iCMEs and the relationship between iCME velocities and that of the background solar wind. The results provide additional confirmation that iCMEs converge toward the velocity of the solar wind ahead of the event and that most of the resulting acceleration or deceleration occurs in the innermost regions of the solar wind.

Dual-frequency interplanetary scintillation observations of the solar wind

Fallows, R. A., Breen, A. R., Bisi, M. M., Jones, R. A., Wannberg, G. (2006). Dual-frequency interplanetary scintillation observations of the solar wind. Geophysical Research Letters, 33 (11), 11106.

The Solar Eruption of 2005 May 13 and Its Effects: Long-Baseline Interplanetary Scintillation Observations of the Earth-Directed Coronal Mass Ejection

Long-baseline observations of interplanetary scintillation (IPS) provide a unique source of information on solar wind speed and meridional direction across the inner regions of the solar system. We report the results of a series of coordinated IPS observations of an Earth-directed CME. A significant development in the interpretation of these data is the use of 3D tomographic reconstructions of solar wind structure derived from STELab IPS data to better constrain the analysis of extremely long baseline observations from EISCAT and MERLIN. The combination of these two approaches leads to a significantly better understanding of the interaction of the CME with the background solar wind than would be possible with either technique alone, revealing a significant rotation in the meridional flow direction of the background wind associated with the passage of the CME. The CME itself is decelerated significantly between its emergence through the corona and its arrival in the IPS ray path, with comparatively little change in speed from then until arrival at ACE.

The relationship between electron temperature and electron density under quiet conditions in the auroral zone

Abstract A theoretical model is described which predicts electron temperature in the day-time F-region above EISCAT on geomagnetically quiet days, given the observed values of electron concentration, ion temperature and heat conduction, the daily average of solar radiation at 10.7cm and the MSIS-86 model of the neutral atmosphere. The values predicted by the model agree very closely with the observed temperatures, both for average conditions and for individual days. On two occasions the onset of a geomagnetic disturbance after a period of quiet conditions was accompanied by a growing divergence between the predicted and observed values, which corresponds to an additional source of electron heating such as would be provided by low energy particle precipitation.

Measurements of the solar wind over a wide range of heliocentric distances — a comparison of results from the first three Whole Sun Months

Abstract Co-ordinated observations of the Sun and inner heliosphere using a large number of space- and ground-based instruments were carried out in August–September 1996, August 1998 and August–September 1999 as the first, second and third Whole Sun Months. These observations provided unprecedented cover of the Sun and inner heliosphere at solar minimum (1996) and during the rising phase of the new solar cycle (1998, 1999). In this paper we review the observations made during the three Whole Sun Months and consider the changes in the large-scale structure of the heliosphere seen over the four years.

Eiscat measurements of interaction regions in the solar wind

Abstract EISCAT measurements of interplanetary scintillation (IPS) have shown that the solar wind is normally dominated by distinct fast and slow components of flow. A minority of observations show velocities intermediate between those of fast and slow streams. The properties of these events are consistent with observations of the compression region at the leading edge of a co-rotating interaction region (CIR) or, in a minority of cases, with the passage of a coronal mass ejection (CME) through the solar wind.

Simultaneous interplanetary scintillation and Heliospheric Imager observations of a coronal mass ejection

We describe simultaneous Interplanetary Scintillation (IPS) and STEREO Heliospheric Imager (HI) observations of a coronal mass ejection (CME) on 16 May 2007. Strong CME signatures were present throughout the IPS observation. The IPS raypath lay within the field-of-view of HI-1 on STEREO-A and comparison of the observations shows that the IPS measurements came from a region within a faint CME front observed by HI-1A. This front may represent the merging of two converging CMEs. Plane-of- sky velocity estimates based on time-height plots of the two converging CME structures were 325 kmsﰀ1 and 550 kmsﰀ1 for the leading and trailing fronts respectively. The plane- of-sky velocities determined from IPS ranged from 420 ± 10 kmsﰀ1 to 520 ± 20 kmsﰀ1. IPS results reveal the presence of micro-structure within the CME front which may represent interaction between the two separate CME events. This is the first time that it has been possible to interpret IPS observations of small-scale structure within an interplanetary CME in terms of the global structure of the event.

Transient Structures and Stream Interaction Regions in the Solar Wind: Results from EISCAT Interplanetary Scintillation, STEREO HI and Venus Express ASPERA-4 Measurements

We discuss the detection and evolution of a complex series of transient and quasi-static solar-wind structures in the days following the well-known comet 2P/Encke tail disconnection event in April 2007. The evolution of transient solar-wind structures ranging in size from <105 km to >106 km was characterised using one-minute time resolution observation of Interplanetary Scintillation (IPS) made using the European Incoherent SCATter (EISCAT) radar system. Simultaneously, the global structure and evolution of these features was characterised by the Heliospheric Imagers (HI) on the Solar TERrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft, placing the IPS observations in context. Of particular interest was the observation of one transient in the slow wind, apparently being swept up and entrained by a Stream Interaction Region (SIR). The SIR itself was later detected in-situ at Venus by the Analyser of Space Plasma and Energetic Atoms (ASPERA-4) instrument on the Venus Express (VEX) spacecraft. The availability of such diverse data sources over a range of different time resolutions enables us to develop a global picture of these complex events that would not have been possible if these instruments were used in isolation. We suggest that the range of solar-wind transients discussed here may be the interplanetary counterparts of transient structures previously reported from coronagraph observations and are likely to correspond to transient magnetic structures reported in in-situ measurements in interplanetary space. The results reported here also provide the first indication of heliocentric distances at which transients become entrained.

Forward modelling to determine the observational signatures of white-light imaging and interplanetary scintillation for the propagation of an interplanetary shock in the ecliptic plane

Recent coordinated observations of interplanetary scintillation (IPS) from the EISCAT, MERLIN, and STELab, and stereoscopic white-light imaging from the two heliospheric imagers (HIs) onboard the twin STEREO spacecraft are significant to continuously track the propagation and evolution of solar eruptions throughout interplanetary space. In order to obtain a better understanding of the observational signatures in these two remote-sensing techniques, the magnetohydrodynamics of the macro-scale interplanetary disturbance and the radio-wave scattering of the micro-scale electron-density fluctuation are coupled and investigated using a newly constructed multi-scale numerical model. This model is then applied to a case of an interplanetary shock propagation within the ecliptic plane. The shock could be nearly invisible to an HI, once entering the Thomson-scattering sphere of the HI. The asymmetry in the optical images between the western and eastern HIs suggests the shock propagation off the Sun–Earth line. Meanwhile, an IPS signal, strongly dependent on the local electron density, is insensitive to the density cavity far downstream of the shock front. When this cavity (or the shock nose) is cut through by an IPS ray-path, a single speed component at the flank (or the nose) of the shock can be recorded; when an IPS ray-path penetrates the sheath between the shock nose and this cavity, two speed components at the sheath and flank can be detected. Moreover, once a shock front touches an IPS ray-path, the derived position and speed at the irregularity source of this IPS signal, together with an assumption of a radial and constant propagation of the shock, can be used to estimate the later appearance of the shock front in the elongation of the HI field of view. The results of synthetic measurements from forward modelling are helpful in inferring the in-situ properties of coronal mass ejection from real observational data via an inverse approach.

Comparisons of interplanetary scintillation and optical measurements of solar wind acceleration with model results

Abstract Observations of the fast, high latitude solar wind show that acceleration of the fast wind is complete by 10 solar radii (R), while measurements from the LASCO instrument on SOHO show that most of the acceleration takes place inside 5 R. A series of observations were made in September 1997 using EISCAT and the C2 and C3 coronagraphs aboard SOHO to measure the solar wind velocity profile from 3 R out to beyond 30 R. The overlapping fields of view of the instruments allowed direct comparisons to be made between IPS and optical estimations of flow velocity. Together, these measurements provide strong constraints on any model seeking to provide an explanation of the acceleration of the fast solar wind. We present the results of a comparison between out observations and the most recent version of the Lindau-Warsaw solar wind acceleration model.