Peter J. Cargill

Solar Wind Disturbances and Their Sources in the EUV Solar Corona

We investigate possible links between the activity manifestations in the solar corona and conditions in the solar wind. For the reduction of this immense task we have selected 206 events in the solar wind in 1997 – 2000 corresponding to geomagnetic events with Ap > 20 (compiled into a database at http://alpha.sinp.msu.ru/apev). Up to now, 24 events during the epoch of low solar activity (January 1997 – January 1998) are investigated. The solar wind conditions monitored by ACE and WIND spacecraft were traced back to the solar corona observed by SOHO/EIT. The search for coronal signatures which are probably associated with the disturbed solar wind conditions was performed. The coronal sources of these 24 events are identified, namely: eruptions in active regions, filament eruptions and coronal holes. It is shown that halo and partial halo CMEs observed within the SOHO/LASCO sensitivity limits are not necessary indicators of Earth‐directed eruptions, and coronal EUV dimmings can be used as a complementary in...

Solar and Heliospheric Causes of Geomagnetic Perturbations during the Growth Phase of Solar Cycle 23

A database is compiled for the study of solar and heliospheric causes of geomagnetic perturbations with the daily average index Aр > 20 that were observed in the period 1997–2000. The number of such events (more than 200) progressively increased and fluctuated as the current solar cycle developed. It is established that geomagnetic storms are generated by dynamical processes and structures near the center of the solar disk in a zone of several tens of degrees, and these processes are responsible for the appearance in the Earths region, within several tens of hours, of quasistationary and transient solar wind streams with a sufficiently strong southward component of the heliospheric magnetic field. These streams lasted more than a few hours. The following structures can serve as morphological indicators for the prediction of the appearance of such streams: (1) active and disappearing filaments derived from synoptic Нα-maps of the Sun, (2) solar flares, (3) coronal holes and evolving active regions, and (4) the heliospheric current sheet. The geometry of coronal mass ejections needs further observational study.