Sources of fast solar wind streams observed on STEREO and at L1
Abstract
Information on the sources of the fast solar wind during the recent period of low solar activity has been obtained by STEREO, ACE and SOHO, for the first time from three perspectives. These observations are complemented by routinely available global models that help us to infer connections between in-situ properties and specific solar features. During the end of the current declining phase, starting around Carrington Rotation 2050 and lasting for almost ten solar rotations, the high speed stream sources were well-defined mid-southern-latitude coronal holes, distinct from the main southern polar coronal hole in the images and the models. The ability to reproduce the solar wind velocity at this time with models that rely on coronal flux tube divergence as a parameter suggest that the global aspects of fast solar wind generation cannot be neglected. Another notable observation is the ability of the mid-to-low latitude sources to retain their coherence and importance in the face of the usual differential rotation, supergranular diffusion, and meridional circulation that act on their photospheric magnetic field boundary. We use the in-situ observations, particularly of solar wind and suprathermal electrons, together with the images of the corona and the models to investigate from the multipoint perspective how these fast solar wind sources work.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2007
- Bibcode:
- 2007AGUFMSH21B..06L
- Keywords:
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- 7599 General or miscellaneous