Solar wind ion trends and signatures: STEREO PLASTIC observations approaching solar minimum

Academic Article

Abstract

  • Abstract. STEREO has now completed the first two years of its mission, moving from close proximity to Earth in 2006/2007 to more than 50 degrees longitudinal separation from Earth in 2009. During this time, several large-scale structures have been observed in situ. Given the prevailing solar minimum conditions, these structures have been predominantly coronal hole-associated solar wind, slow solar wind, their interfaces, and the occasional transient event. In this paper, we extend earlier solar wind composition studies into the current solar minimum using high-resolution (1-h) sampling times for the charge state analysis. We examine 2-year trends for iron charge states and solar wind proton speeds, and present a case study of Carrington Rotation 2064 (December 2007) which includes minor ion (He, Fe, O) kinetic and Fe composition parameters in comparison with proton and magnetic field signatures at large-scale structures observed during this interval.
  • Authors

  • Galvin, AB
  • Popecki, MA
  • Simunac, KDC
  • Kistler, Lynn
  • Ellis, L
  • Barry, J
  • Berger, L
  • Blush, LM
  • Bochsler, P
  • Farrugia, Charles
  • Jian, LK
  • Kilpua, EKJ
  • Klecker, B
  • Lee, M
  • Liu, YC-M
  • Luhmann, JL
  • Moebius, E
  • Opitz, A
  • Russell, CT
  • Thompson, B
  • Wimmer-Schweingruber, RF
  • Wurz, P
  • Status

    Publication Date

  • 2009
  • Keywords

  • Interplanetary physics
  • Solar wind plasma
  • Sources of the solar wind
  • Digital Object Identifier (doi)

    Start Page

  • 3909
  • End Page

  • 3922
  • Volume

  • 27
  • Issue

  • 10