Abstract
We investigate the characteristics and the sources of the slow (\({<}\,450~\mbox{km}\,\mbox{s}^{-1}\)) solar wind during the four years (2006 – 2009) of low solar activity between Solar Cycles 23 and 24. We used a comprehensive set of in-situ observations in the near-Earth solar wind (Wind and ACE) and removed the periods when large-scale interplanetary coronal mass ejections were present. The investigated period features significant variations in the global coronal structure, including the frequent presence of low-latitude active regions in 2006 – 2007, long-lived low- and mid-latitude coronal holes in 2006 – mid-2008 and mostly the quiet Sun in 2009. We examined Carrington rotation averages of selected solar plasma, charge state, and compositional parameters and distributions of these parameters related to the quiet Sun, active region Sun, and the coronal hole Sun. While some of the investigated parameters (e.g. speed, the C+6/C+4 and He/H ratios) show clear variations over our study period and with solar wind source type, some (Fe/O) exhibit very little changes. Our results highlight the difficulty of distinguishing between the slow solar wind sources based on the inspection of solar wind conditions.
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Acknowledgements
The academy of Finland project 1218152 is thanked for financial support. M. Madjarska and E. Kilpua acknowledge with gratitude the Royal Society international exchange grant for the project Coupling transient activity from the Sun to the Heliosphere. M. Madjarska is supported by the Leverhulme Trust. The OMNI data were obtained through the NSSDC CDAWEB online facility. We acknowledge the ACE Science Center for providing SWICS measurements. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.
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Kilpua, E.K.J., Madjarska, M.S., Karna, N. et al. Sources of the Slow Solar Wind During the Solar Cycle 23/24 Minimum. Sol Phys 291, 2441–2456 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-016-0979-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-016-0979-x