Multisatellite Observations of Interplanetary Field Enhancements

Interplanetary Field Enhancements (IFEs) are magnetic structures in the solar wind that have a cusp-shaped maximum in the field strength with a strong current sheet often near the central peak. These structures generally last an hour or more. They have a tendency to be seen more often at specific ecliptic longitudes, have been identified on occasion with particular small solar system bodies (asteroid 2201 Oljato and comet 122P/ De Vico) and attributed to the interaction of the solar wind with charged dust. On occasion they are detected nearly simultaneously by several spacecraft. Multispacecraft detection have been made with PVO, Venera-13 and Venera-14; with ISEE 1 and ISEE 3 and more recently with STEREO A and B, ACE and Wind. In this paper we use a delay matching algorithm developed by D. Weimer on the IFE of December 24, 2006 detected by 4 spacecraft. While the IFE is crossing the four spacecraft separated in Y by 90 Re and in X by 160 Re the measured delay was close to the calculated advection time. Along the apparent center line of the event the delay was close to 4 minutes. This event together with previous events are consistent with IFEs being magnetic structures that are convecting outward from the Sun with nearly, but slightly slower than, the solar wind velocity. We need to understand the occurrence rate of such structures and their physical cause because if this hypothesis is true, they may be responsible for accelerating dust out of the inner solar system.