The solar cycle variation of the rates of CMEs and related activity

Abstract

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are an important aspect of the physics of the corona and heliosphere. We present results of a study of occurrence frequencies of CMEs and related activity tracers over more than a complete solar activity cycle. To properly estimate occurrence rates, observed CME rates must be corrected for instrument duty cycles, detection efficiencies away from the skyplane, mass detection thresholds, and geometrical considerations. We evaluate these corrections using CME data from 1976–1989 obtained with the Skylab, SMM and SOLWIND coronagraphs and the HELIOS-2 photometers. The major results are: 1) The occurrence rate of CMEs tends to track the activity cycle in both amplitude and phase; 2) The corrected rates from different instruments are reasonably consistent; and 3) Over the long term, no one class of solar activity tracer is better correlated with CME rate than any other (with the possible exception of type II bursts).