ALBERT

Description: During October 1989, three very energetic flares were ejected by the same active region at longitudes 9 deg E, 32 deg W, and 57 deg W, respectively. The shape of the galactic cosmic ray variations suggests the presence of large magnetic cloud structures (Nagashima et al., 1990) following the shock-associated perturbations. In spite of long data gaps the interplanetary observations at Interplanetary Monitoring Platform (IMP) 8 (near the Earth) and International Cometary Explorer (ICE)(approximately 1 AU, approximately 65 deg W) confirm this possibility for the event related to the 9 deg E flare; the principal axes analysis shows that the interplanetary magnetic field variations at both spacecraft locations are mainly confined on a meridian plane. This result suggests that the western longitudinal extension of this cloud is indeed very large (greater than or equal to 5 deg). The nonnegligible depression in the cosmic ray intensity observed inside the possible cloud related to the 57 deg W flare indicates that also the eastern extension could be very wide. The analysis of neutron monitor data shows clearly the cosmic ray trapping effect of magnetic clouds; this mechanism seems to be responsible for the enhanced diurnal effect often observed during the recovery phase of Forbush decreases. We give an interpretation for the anisotropic cosmic ray peak occurring in the third event, and, related to that, we suggest that the Forbush decrease modulated region at the Earth's orbit could be somewhat wider than the magnetic cloud, as already anticipated by Nagashima et al. (1990). By this analysis, based mainly on cosmic ray data, we show that it is possible to do reasonable inferences on the large-scale structure of flare-related interplanetary perturbations when interplanetary medium data are not completely present.

Description: In order to better understand the solar origins of magnetic clouds, statistical distributions of the estimated axial magnetic flux of 30 magnetic clouds at 1 AU, separated according to their occurrence during the solar cycle, were obtained and a comparison was made of the magnetic flux of a magnetic cloud to the aggregate flux of apparently associated photospheric magnetic flux tubes, for some specific cases. The 30 magnetic clouds comprise 12 cases from WIND, and the remainder from IMP-8, earlier IMPs, the International Sun-Earth Explorer (ISEE) 3 and HELIOS. The total magnetic flux along the cloud axis was estimated using a constant alpha, cylindrical, force-free flux rope model to determine cloud diameter and axial magentic field strength. The distribution of magentic fluxes for the 30 clouds is shown to be in the form of a skewed Gaussian.

Description: In late February 1999 the ACE spacecraft observed a coronal mass ejection (CME) at 1 AU, in the ecliptic plane. Thirteen days later, Ulysses observed a CME at 5 AU and 22"s. We present a detailed analysis of the plasma, magnetic field, and composition signatures of these two events. On the basis of this comparison alone, it is not clear that the two spacecraft observed the same solar event. However, using a generic MHD simulation of a fast CME initiated at the Sun by magnetic flux cancellation and propagated out into the solar wind, together with additional evidence, we argue that indeed the same CME was observed by both spacecraft. Although force-free models appear to fit the observed events well, our simulation results suggest that the ejecta underwent significant distortion during its passage through the solar wind, indicating that care should be taken when interpreting the results of force-he models. Comparison of composition measurements at the two spacecraft suggests that significant spatial inhomogeneities can exist within a single CME.

Description: This paper deals with the influence of thermal anisotropy on least-squares estimates of interplanetary shock parameters and the associated normals by using the Rankine-Hugoniot equations. A practical theorem is given for quantitatively correcting for anisotropic effects by weighting the before and after magnetic fields by the same 'anisotropy parameter' h. The quantity h depends only on the thermal anisotropies before and after the shock and on the angles between the magnetic fields and the shock normal. It is shown that, for fast shocks and for a liberal range of realistic conditions, the quantity h lies in the range from 0.90 to 1.22. The theorem can also be applied to most slow shocks, but in those instances h usually should be lower and sometimes markedly lower than unity.

Description: A list of the interplanetary (IP) shocks observed by WIND from its launch (in November 1994) to May 1997 is presented. Forty two shocks were identified. The magnetohydrodynamic nature of the shocks is investigated, and the associated shock parameters and their uncertainties are accurately computed using a practical scheme which combines two techniques. These techniques are a combination of the "pre-averaged" magnetic-coplanarity, velocity-coplanarity, and the Abraham-Schrauner-mixed methods, on the one hand, and the Vinas and Scudder [1986] technique for solving the non-linear least-squares Rankine-Hugoniot shock equations, on the other. Within acceptable limits these two techniques generally gave the same results, with some exceptions. The reasons for the exceptions are discussed. It is found that the mean strength and rate of occurrence of the shocks appears to correlated with the solar cycle. Both showed a decrease in 1996 coincident with the time of the lowest ultraviolet solar radiance, indicative of solar minimum and start of solar cycle 23, which began around June 1996. Eighteen shocks appeared to be associated with corotating interaction regions (CIRs). The distribution of their shock normals showed a mean direction peaking in the ecliptic plane and with a longitude (phi(sub n)) in that plane between perpendicular to the Parker spiral and radial from the Sun. When grouped according to the sense of the direction of propagation of the shocks the mean azimuthal (longitude) angle in GSE coordinates was approximately 194 deg for the fast-forward and approximately 20 deg for the fast-reverse shocks. Another 16 shocks were determined to be driven by solar transients, including magnetic clouds. These shocks had a broader distribution of normal directions than those of the CIR cases with a mean direction close to the Sun-Earth line. Eight shocks of unknown origin had normal orientation well off the ecliptic plane. No shock propagated with longitude phi(sub n) 〉= 220 +/- 10 deg, this would suggest strong hindrance to the propagation of shocks contra a rather tightly winding Parker spiral. Examination of the obliquity angle theta(sub Bn) (that between the shock normal and the upstream interplanetary magnetic field) for the full set of shocks revealed that about 58% was quasi-perpendicular, and some were very nearly perpendicular. About 32% of the shocks were oblique, and the rest (only 10%) were quasi-parallel, with one on Dec. 9, 1996 that showed field pulsations. Small uncertainty in the estimated angle theta(sub Bn) was obtained for about 10 shocks with magnetosonic Mach numbers between 1 and 2, hopefully significantly contributing to studies researching particle acceleration mechanisms at IP shocks, and to investigations where accurate values of theta(sub Bn) are crucial.

Description: A total of 93 SSC's were examined during the four year period from 1968 to 1971 at and near the peak of the solar activity cycle. Of the 93 SSC's 81 could be associated with solar activity, such as solar flares and radio bursts of Type II and Type IV. The mean propagation speeds of these flare-associated events ranged from 400 to 1000 km/sec with an average speed of 600-700 km/sec. Disturbances associated with 48 of the SSC's have been studied in detail using the corresponding interplanetary (IP) magnetic field, and plasma data when they were available. It was found that 41 of the 48 disturbances corresponded to IP shock waves, and the remaining seven events were tangential discontinuities. Thirty percent of the IP shocks had thick structure (i.e. the magnetic field jump across the shock occurred over a distance much greater than 50 proton Larmor radii). Also given is a statistical study of the gross geometry of a typical or average shock surface based on multiple spacecraft sightings and their relative orientation with respect to the solar flare. It is suggested that a typical shock front propagating out from the sun at l AU has a radius of curvature on the order of l AU. Also given are some general properties of oblique IP flare-shocks.

Description: The flare-associated interplanetary shock observed by Explorer 33 and Pioneer 7 is analyzed to yield an estimation of the ecliptic plane geometry of the shock surface near 1 AU. These spacecraft were separated by 23 deg in the heliocentric longitude and Pioneer 7 was at a distance of 1.12 AU from the sun. Although a data gap occurred at the apparent time of passage of the disturbance at Pioneer 6, which was 85 deg in heliocentric longitude from Pioneer 7 and at 0.83 AU, the recovered data did suggest such a passage. A consistent picture of the shock propagation is given to explain the difference in arrival times at Pioneers 6, 7, and Explorer 33 and the difference of the shock normals observed by Pioneer 7 and Explorer 33. The average shock speed from the sun to each spacecraft and the local speed at Explorer 33 and their relations to the position of the initiating solar flare are obtained and discussed. In the region of space between the earth and Pioneer 7 the shock surface radius of curvature in the ecliptic plane was 0.4 AU or less.

Description: Ninety-three ssc's during the 4-year period from 1968 to 1971 at and near the peak of the solar activity cycle were examined. Of the 93 ssc's, 81 could be associated with solar activity such as solar flares and type 2 and type 4 radio bursts. Disturbances associated with 48 of the ssc's have been studied in detail by using the corresponding interplanetary (IP) magnetic field and plasma data when they were available. It was found that 41 of the 48 disturbances corresponded to IP shock waves, and the remaining 7 events were tangential discontinuities. Thirty per cent of the IP shocks had thick structure (i.e., the magnetic field jump across the shock occurred over a distance much greater than 50 proton Larmor radii). By considering the orientations of 22 well-determined shock normals in relation to the positions of the parent flares on the solar disk, it is suggested that a typical shock front propagating out from the sun at 1 AU has a radius of curvature of the order of 1 AU.

Description: Twenty years of interplanetary magnetic field data collected primarily by the IMP-8 spacecraft near Earth has been analyzed by a dynamic periodogram method in search of significant periodicities in the range of 10 days to 3 years. The method has the advantage of detecting variations with time in the periodicities besides determining the power and phase of the dominant variations. It has been found that the well known periodicities near 1 year and 27 days are strongly modulated by the solar cycle. Both of these periodicities are only detected during solar minimum. During solar maximum. a number of unusual variations are observed. Special emphasis will be placed on the recently reported 1.3 year variation in solar wind parameters besides periods in the interplanetary magnetic field near 51, 73 and 154 days. Correlations with solar wind plasma and solar index variations will also be presented.

Description: We statistically analyze many interplanetary shock events where there are both WIND interplanetary data and POLAR UV imaging data. We find that the shock compression events trigger pseudobreakups (PBs), substorm onsets, or enhance (pre-existing) substorm intensities. Using WIND interplanetary data and ground-based data, it is now believed that we can predict when PBs will occur and when substorm expansion phases will occur.