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Helium abundance variations in the solar wind

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Abstract

Helium abundance variations in the solar wind have been studied using data obtained with Los Alamos plasma instrumentation on IMP 6, 7, and 8 from 1971 through 1978. For the first time, average flow characteristics have been determined as a function of helium abundance, A(He). Low and average values of A(He) are each preferentially identified with a different characteristic plasma ‘state’ these correspond to what have previously been recognized as the signatures of interplanetary magnetic field polarity reversals and high speed streams, respectively. Helium enhancements at 1 AU also can be identified with a characteristic plasma state, which includes high magnetic field intensity and low proton temperature. This is further evidence that such enhancements are a signal of coronal transient mass ejections. Long-term averages of A(He) at least partially reflect the relative frequency with which coronal streamers, holes, and transients extend their influence into the ecliptic plane at 1 AU. As a result, there is a real and pronounced solar cycle variation of solar wind H(He).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Plasma Research, Stanford University, 94305, Stanford, CA, U.S.A.

    G. Borrini

  2. University of California, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 87545, Los Alamos, NM, U.S.A.

    J. T. Gosling, S. J. Bame & W. C. Feldman

Authors
  1. G. Borrini
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  2. J. T. Gosling
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  3. S. J. Bame
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  4. W. C. Feldman
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Borrini, G., Gosling, J.T., Bame, S.J. et al. Helium abundance variations in the solar wind. Sol Phys 83, 367–378 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00148286

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