Monitoring the heliospheric current sheet local structure for the years 1995 to 2001

Abstract

We have monitored the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) local structure through a 6.5 year period starting in January 1995. This interval begins with near solar minimum conditions and finishes in solar maximum conditions. We have used data from Wind mission, mainly the magnetic field instrument (MFI) and the solar wind experiment (SWE). Our work is focused on the HCS local inclination and the solar wind conditions around the HCS crossings, with a particular interest on their evolution along the ascending phase of solar cycle 23 and its relationship with solar wind phenomena such as magnetic cloud and stream interaction regions. We defined a real HCS crossing when a magnetic field minimum, showing a polarity reversal is observed and QeB (where Qe is the electron heat flux in solar wind) reverses its sign through an interval no longer than 60 min. The results suggest that the HCS local structure is more dependent on the solar wind conditions than on the solar cycle stage.