Abstract
In this paper we examine the elemental composition of the 0.1 – 1 MeV nucleon−1 interplanetary heavy ions from H to Fe in corotating interaction regions (CIRs) measured by the SIT (Suprathermal Ion Telescope) instrument. We use observations taken on board the STEREO spacecraft from January 2007 through December 2010, which included the unusually long solar minimum following Solar Cycle 23. During this period instruments on STEREO observed more than 50 CIR events making it possible to investigate CIR ion abundances during solar minimum conditions with unprecedented high statistics. The observations reveal annual variations of relative ion abundances in the CIRs during the 2007 – 2008 period as indicated by the He/H, He/O and Fe/O elemental ratios. We discuss possible causes of the variability in terms of the helium focusing cone passage and heliolatitude dependence. The year 2009 was very quiet in CIR-event activity. In 2010 the elemental composition in CIRs were influenced by sporadic solar energetic particle (SEP) events. The 2010 He/H and He/O abundance ratios in CIRs show large event-to-event variations with values resembling the SEP-like composition. This finding suggests that the suprathermal SEPs could be the source population for CIR acceleration.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bučík, R., Mall, U., Gómez-Herrero, R., Korth, A., Mason, G.M.: 2009a, Solar Phys. 259, 361.
Bučík, R., Mall, U., Korth, A., Mason, G.M.: 2009b, Ann. Geophys. 27, 3677.
Bučík, R., Mall, U., Korth, A., Mason, G.M.: 2011, J. Geophys. Res. 116, A06103.
Chollet, E.E., Mewaldt, R.A., Cummings, A.C., Gosling, J.T., Haggerty, D.K., Hu, Q., Larson, D., Lavraud, B., Leske, R.A., Opitz, A., et al.: 2010, J. Geophys. Res. 115, 12106.
Chotoo, K., Schwadron, N.A., Mason, G.M., Zurbuchen, T.H., Gloeckler, G., Posner, A., Fisk, L.A., Galvin, A.B., Hamilton, D.C., Collier, M.R.: 2000, J. Geophys. Res. 105, 23107.
Desai, M.I., Mason, G.M., Dwyer, J.R., Mazur, J.E., Gold, R.E., Krimigis, S.M., Smith, C.W., Skoug, R.M.: 2003, Astrophys. J. 588, 1149.
Desai, M.I., Mason, G.M., Gold, R.E., Krimigis, S.M., Cohen, C.M.S., Mewaldt, R.A., Mazur, J.E., Dwyer, J.R.: 2006, Astrophys. J. 649, 470.
Drews, C., Berger, L., Wimmer-Schweingruber, R.F., Galvin, A.B., Klecker, B., Möbius, E.: 2010, J. Geophys. Res. 115, A10108.
Galvin, A.B., Kistler, L.M., Popecki, M.A., Farrugia, C.J., Simunac, K.D.C., Ellis, L., Möbius, E., Lee, M.A., Boehm, M., Carroll, J., et al.: 2008, Space Sci. Rev. 136, 437.
Gloeckler, G., Fisk, L.A., Geiss, J., Schwadron, N.A., Zurbuchen, T.H.: 2000, J. Geophys. Res. 105, 7459.
Gloeckler, G., Möbius, E., Geiss, J., Bzowski, M., Chalov, S., Fahr, H., Noda, H., Oka, M., McMullin, D.R., Rucińsky, D., et al.: 2004, Astron. Astrophys. 426, 845.
Gómez-Herrero, R., Kartavykh, Y., Dröge, W., Klassen, A., Dresing, N., Klecker, B., Heber, B., Malandraki, O., Müller-Mellin, R., the SEPT-team: 2011, In: Proc. of the 32nd International Cosmic Ray Conference 10/11, 202.
Kallenbach, R., Geiss, J., Gloeckler, G., von Steiger, R.: 2000, Astrophys. Space Sci. 274, 97.
Klecker, B., Scholer, M., Hovestadt, D., Gloeckler, G., Ipavich, F.M.: 1981, Astrophys. J. 251, 393.
Klecker, B., Bogdanov, A.T., Galvin, A.T., Ipavich, F.M., Hilchenbach, M., Möbius, E., Bochsler, P.: 2001, In: Proc. of International Cosmic Ray Conference, 3100.
Kocharov, L., Kovaltsov, G.A., Torsti, J., Anttila, A., Sahla, T.: 2003, J. Geophys. Res. 108, 1404.
Kucharek, H., Möbius, E., Li, W., Farrugia, C.J., Popecki, M.A., Galvin, A.B., Klecker, B., Hilchenbach, M., Bochsler, P.A.: 2003, J. Geophys. Res. 108, 8040.
Lario, D., Roelof, E.C., Decker, R.B., Reisenfeld, D.B.: 2003, Adv. Space Res. 32, 579.
Leske, R.A., Mewaldt, R.A., Mason, G.M., Cohen, C.M.S., Cummings, A.C., Labrador, A.W., Stone, E.C., Wiedenbeck, M.E., von Rosenvinge, T.T.: 2010, In: Maksimovic, M., Issautier, K., Meyer-Vernet, N., Moncuquet, M., Pantellini, F. (eds.) Twelfth International Solar Wind Conference, AIP Conf. Proc. 1216, 379.
Leske, R.A., Cohen, C.M.S., Mewaldt, R.A., Cummings, A.C., Stone, E.C., Wiedenbeck, M.E., von Rosenvinge, T.T.: 2011, In: Proc. of the 32nd International Cosmic Ray Conference 10/11, 198.
Malandraki, O.E., Marsden, R.G., Tranquille, C., Forsyth, R.J., Elliott, H.A., Lanzerotti, L.J., Geranios, A.: 2007, J. Geophys. Res. 112, 6111.
Mason, G.M., Desai, M.I., Li, G.: 2012, Astrophys. J. Lett. 748, L31.
Mason, G.M., Mazur, J.E., Dwyer, J.R., Reames, D.V., von Rosenvinge, T.T.: 1997, Astrophys. J. 486, 149.
Mason, G.M., Mazur, J.E., Dwyer, J.R., Jokipii, J.R., Gold, R.E., Krimigis, S.M.: 2004, Astrophys. J. 606, 555.
Mason, G.M., Leske, R.A., Desai, M.I., Cohen, C.M.S., Dwyer, J.R., Mazur, J.E., Mewaldt, R.A., Gold, R.E., Krimigis, S.M.: 2008a, Astrophys. J. 678, 1458.
Mason, G.M., Korth, A., Walpole, P.H., Desai, M.I., von Rosenvinge, T.T., Shuman, S.A.: 2008b, Space Sci. Rev. 136, 257.
Mason, G.M., Desai, M.I., Mall, U., Korth, A., Bucik, R., von Rosenvinge, T.T., Simunac, K.D.: 2009, Solar Phys. 256, 393.
Mazur, J.E., Mason, G.M., Mewaldt, R.A.: 2002, Astrophys. J. 566, 555.
Mazur, J.E., Mason, G.M., Klecker, B., McGuire, R.E.: 1993, Astrophys. J. 404, 810.
Möbius, E., Hovestadt, D., Klecker, B., Scholer, M., Gloeckler, G., Ipavich, F.M.: 1985, Nature 318, 426.
Möbius, E., Morris, D., Popecki, M.A., Klecker, B., Kistler, L.M., Galvin, A.B.: 2002, Geophys. Res. Lett. 29, 1016.
Möbius, E., Klecker, B., Bochsler, P., Gloeckler, G., Kucharek, H., Simunac, K.D.C., Galvin, A.B., Ellis, L., Farrugia, C., Kistler, L.M., et al.: 2010, In: le Roux, J.A., Florinsky, V., Zank, G.P., Coates, A.J. (eds.) Pickup Ions throughout the Heliosphere and Beyond: Proc. of the 9th Annual International Astrophysics Conference, AIP Conf. Proc. 1302, 37.
Reames, D.V.: 1993, Adv. Space Res. 9, 331.
Reames, D.V., Ng, C.K., Mason, G.M., Dwyer, J.R., Mazur, J.E., von Rosenvinge, T.T.: 1997, Geophys. Res. Lett. 24, 2917.
Richardson, I.G., Mazur, J.E., Mason, G.M.: 1998, J. Geophys. Res. 103, 2115.
Richardson, I.G., Barbier, L.M., Reames, D.V., von Rosenvinge, T.T.: 1993, J. Geophys. Res. 98, 13.
Roelof, E.C., Gold, R.E., Simnett, G.M., Tappin, S.J., Armstrong, T.P., Lanzerotti, L.J.: 1992, Geophys. Res. Lett. 19, 1243.
Sanderson, T.R., Bothmer, V., Marsden, R.G., Trattner, K.J., Wenzel, K.P., Balogh, A., Forsyth, R.J., Goldstein, B.E.: 1995, Geophys. Res. Lett. 22, 3357.
Torsti, J., Anttila, A., Sahla, T.: 1999, J. Geophys. Res. 104, 9891.
Wiedenbeck, M.E., Mason, G.M., Gómez-Herrero, R., Haggerty, G., Nitta, N.V., Cohen, C.M.S., Chollet, E.E., Cummings, A.C., Leske, R.A., Mewaldt, R.A., et al.: 2010, In: Maksimovic, M., Issautier, K., Meyer-Vernet, N., Moncuquet, M., Pantellini, F. (eds.) Twelfth International Solar Wind Conference, AIP Conf. Proc. 1216, 621.
Zieger, B., Mursula, K.: 1998, Geophys. Res. Lett. 25, 841.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft under grant 50 OC 0904. The work at the Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Laboratory was supported by NASA under contract SA4889-26309 from the University of the California Berkeley and by National Science Foundation grant 0962653.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
The Sun 360
Guest Editors: Bernhard Fleck, Bernd Heber, and Angelos Vourlidas
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bučík, R., Mall, U., Korth, A. et al. Abundances of Suprathermal Heavy Ions in CIRs During the Minimum of Solar Cycle 23. Sol Phys 281, 411–422 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-012-0094-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-012-0094-6