ICME-driven Shocks Research Articles

Variations of Heavy Ions in Interplanetary Shock Driven by Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections and Stream Interaction Regions

In the solar wind, the fluctuation of heavy ion abundance serves as a crucial physical metric. This not only mirrors the attributes of the solar wind’s originating solar region but also signifies its influence on Earth’s magnetosphere. Utilizing data from the Advanced Composition Explorer satellite, this investigation scrutinizes heavy ion variations in stream interaction region (SIR)- and interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME)-driven shocks. We further delineate the disparities in heavy ion fluctuations between these two types of interplanetary shocks across diverse solar activity cycles. Our findings reveal that ICME-driven shocks typically manifest elevated shock velocities and magnetic field strengths relative to their SIR-driven counterparts. Additionally, heavy ion abundance ratios, such as C6+/O4+, O7+/O6+, He/O, Si/O, and Fe/O, are consistently higher in ICME-driven shocks than in SIR-driven shocks. During varying solar activity cycles, these ratios surge postarrival of ICME-driven shocks. At solar maximum, these elevated ratios persist, whereas they revert to baseline levels swiftly during solar minimum. For SIR-driven shocks, the alteration in heavy ion abundance ratios is comparatively subdued, yet a noteworthy correlation with the solar activity cycle is evident.

Planar Magnetic Structures Downstream of Coronal Mass Ejection–driven Shocks in the Inner Heliosphere

Planar magnetic structures (PMSs), characterized by interplanetary magnetic field vectors remaining parallel to a specific plane, are commonly observed in the solar wind, especially in the sheath region of interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs). In this study, PMS events in the 2 hr regions downstream of ICME-driven shocks were investigated to reveal the relationship between PMS formation and shock environment using data collected by the Parker Solar Probe, Solar Orbiter, and Venus Express spacecraft in the inner heliosphere. PMS events are identified in the majority (around 93%) of the postshock 2 hr regions, with transit times ranging from 10 to 120 minutes, which demonstrates their common occurrence associated with ICME-driven shocks. About 33% of the detected PMS events cover the whole 2 hr intervals, called full PMS events. Most of the full PMS events are observed in the downstream region of quasi-perpendicular shocks. In addition, statistical results show that full PMS events occurring in the downstream region of quasi-perpendicular shocks are generally associated with higher magnetic compression ratios, which implies that full PMS events are more likely to be formed in the downstream region of strong quasi-perpendicular shocks.

The Efficiency of Electron Acceleration by ICME-driven Shocks

We present a study of the efficiency of the acceleration of suprathermal electrons at collisionless shock waves driven by interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs), with the data analysis from both the spacecraft observations and test-particle simulations. The observations are from the 3DP/EESA instrument on board Wind during the 74 shock events listed in Yang et al., and the test-particle simulations are carried out through 315 cases with different shock parameters. A total of seven energy channels ranging from 0.428–4.161 keV are selected. In the simulations, using a backward-in-time method, we calculate the average downstream flux in the 90° pitch angle. On the other hand, the average downstream and upstream fluxes in the 90° pitch angle can also be directly obtained from the 74 observational shock events. In addition, the variation in the event number ratio with the downstream to upstream flux ratio above a threshold value in terms of the shock angle (the angle between the shock normal and upstream magnetic field), upstream Alfvén Mach number, and shock compression ratio is statistically obtained. It is shown from both the observations and simulations that a large shock angle, upstream Alfvén Mach number, and shock compression ratio can enhance the efficiency of the shock acceleration. Our results suggest that shock drift acceleration is more efficient in the electron acceleration by ICME-driven shocks, which confirms the findings of Yang et al.

Turbulence and wave transmission at an ICME-driven shock observed by the Solar Orbiter and Wind

Aims.An interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) event was observed by the Solar Orbiter at 0.8 AU on 2020 April 19 and by Wind at 1 AU on 2020 April 20. Futhermore, an interplanetary shock wave was driven in front of the ICME. Here, we focus on the transmission of the magnetic fluctuations across the shock and we analyze the characteristic wave modes of solar wind turbulence in the vicinity of the shock observed by both spacecraft.Methods.The observed ICME event is characterized by a magnetic helicity-based technique. The ICME-driven shock normal was determined by magnetic coplanarity method for the Solar Orbiter and using a mixed plasma and field approach for Wind. The power spectra of magnetic field fluctuations were generated by applying both a fast Fourier transform and Morlet wavelet analysis. To understand the nature of waves observed near the shock, we used the normalized magnetic helicity as a diagnostic parameter. The wavelet-reconstructed magnetic field fluctuation hodograms were used to further study the polarization properties of waves.Results.We find that the ICME-driven shock observed by Solar Orbiter and Wind is a fast, forward oblique shock with a more perpendicular shock angle at the Wind position. After the shock crossing, the magnetic field fluctuation power increases. Most of the magnetic field fluctuation power resides in the transverse fluctuations. In the vicinity of the shock, both spacecraft observe right-hand polarized waves in the spacecraft frame. The upstream wave signatures fall within a relatively broad and low frequency band, which might be attributed to low frequency MHD waves excited by the streaming particles. For the downstream magnetic wave activity, we find oblique kinetic Alfvén waves with frequencies near the proton cyclotron frequency in the spacecraft frame. The frequency of the downstream waves increases by a factor of ∼7–10 due to the shock compression and the Doppler effect.

Magnetic Cloud and Sheath in the Ground-level Enhancement Event of 2000 July 14. I. Effects on the Solar Energetic Particles

Abstract Ground-level enhancements generally accompany fast interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs), and ICME-driven shocks are sources of solar energetic particles (SEPs). Observations of the GLE event of 2000 July 14 show that a very fast and strong magnetic cloud (MC) is behind the ICME shock and the proton intensity-time profiles observed at 1 au had a rapid two-step decrease near the sheath and MC. Therefore, we study the effect of sheath and MC on SEPs accelerated by an ICME shock by numerically solving the focused transport equation. The shock is regarded as a moving source of SEPs with an assumed particle distribution function. The sheath and MC are set to thick spherical caps with enhanced magnetic field, and the turbulence levels in the sheath and MC are set to be higher and lower than those of the ambient solar wind, respectively. The simulation results of proton intensity-time profiles agree well with the observations in energies ranging from ∼1 to ∼100 MeV, and the two-step decrease is reproduced when the sheath and MC arrived at the Earth. The simulation results show that the sheath-MC structure reduced the proton intensities for about 2 days after the shock passed through the Earth. It is found that the sheath contributed most of the decrease while the MC facilitated the formation of the second step decrease. The simulation also infers that the coordination of magnetic field and turbulence in sheath-MC structure can produce a stronger reduction of SEP intensities.

Suprathermal Electron Acceleration by a Quasi-perpendicular Shock: Simulations and Observations

Abstract The acceleration of suprathermal electrons in the solar wind is mainly associated with shocks driven by interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs). It is well known that the acceleration of electrons is much more efficient at quasi-perpendicular shocks than at quasi-parallel ones. Yang et al. studied the acceleration of suprathermal electrons with observations at a quasi-perpendicular ICME-driven shock event to claim the important role of shock-drift acceleration (SDA). Here, we perform test-particle simulations to study the acceleration of electrons in this event, by calculating the downstream electron intensity distribution for all energy channels assuming an initial distribution based on the average upstream intensities. Using simulations, we obtain the results similar to the observations from Yang et al. as follows. It is shown that the ratio of downstream to upstream intensities peaks at about 90° pitch angle. In addition, in each pitch angle direction the downstream electron energy spectral index is much larger than the theoretical index of diffusive shock acceleration. Furthermore, the estimated drift length is proportional to the electron energy but the drift time is almost energy independent. Finally, we use a theoretical model based on SDA to describe the drift length and drift time especially, to explain their energy dependence. These results indicate the importance of SDA in the acceleration of electrons by quasi-perpendicular shocks.

Numerical simulation and data analysis of the 23 July 2012 SEP event observed by ACE, STEREO-A, and STEREO-B

An extremely powerful, superfast interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) from the Sun on 23 July 2012 was detected by widely separated multiple spacecraft, namely STEREO-A, STEREO-B, and ACE, together with the ICME-driven shock and associated solar energetic particles (SEPs). We use the Parker spiral magnetic field model to analyze the relationship between the propagation of the shock and the SEP flux. Furthermore, we simulate the SEP event by numerically solving the three-dimensional focused transport equation of SEPs considering the shock as the moving source of energetic particles. To deal with the fact that protons and electrons behave completely differently for both parallel and perpendicular diffusion, for simplicity, we use the same diffusion model format for the simulations of protons and electrons but with different parameters. We find that the analysis can qualitatively explain the important features of the SEP flux observed by the multiple spacecraft simultaneously. In addition, the numerical results for both energetic protons and electrons approximately agree with multi-spacecraft observations.

Electron Acceleration by ICME-driven Shocks at 1 au

Abstract We present a comprehensive study of in situ electron acceleration during 74 shocks driven by interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) with good suprathermal electron observations by the Wind 3DP instrument at 1 au from 1995 through 2014. Among the selected 59 quasi-perpendicular (15 quasi-parallel) shock cases, ∼86% (∼60%), ∼62% (∼36%), and ∼17% (∼7%) show significant electron flux enhancements of J D /J A > 1.5 across the shock, respectively at 0.43, 1.95, and 40 keV, where J D and J A are the electron flux in the shock’s downstream and the preceding ambient solar wind. For significantly shocked suprathermal electrons, the differential flux J D positively correlates most with the magnetosonic Mach number M s , while the flux enhancement J D /J A positively correlates most with the magnetic compression ratio r B , among the shock parameters. Both J D and J A generally fit well to a double-power-law spectrum at ∼0.4–100 keV, J ∝ E −β , with an index of β 1 ∼ 2–6 below a break energy of E br (which is typically ∼2 keV) and an index of β 2 ∼ 2.0–3.2 at energies above. is similar to in all the shock cases, while is similar to (larger than) in ∼60% (∼40%) of the shock cases with significant electron enhancements. Furthermore, J D /J A mostly peaks in the directions perpendicular to the interplanetary magnetic field at ∼0.4–50 keV. These results suggest that both quasi-parallel and quasi-perpendicular shocks accelerate electrons in situ at 1 au mainly via shock drift acceleration, with an acceleration efficiency probably affected by the induced electric field at the shock surface.

The Strongest Acceleration of >40 keV Electrons by ICME-driven Shocks at 1 au

Abstract We present two case studies of the in-situ electron acceleration during the 2000 February 11 shock and the 2004 July 22 shock, with the strongest electron flux enhancement at 40 keV across the shock, among all the quasi-perpendicular and quasi-parallel ICME-driven shocks observed by the WIND 3DP instrument from 1995 through 2014 at 1 au. We find that for this quasi-perpendicular (quasi-parallel) shock on 2000 February 11 (2004 July 22), the shocked electron differential fluxes at ∼0.4–50 keV in the downstream generally fit well to a double-power-law spectrum, J ∼ E −β , with an index of β ∼ 3.15 (4.0) at energies below a break at ∼3 keV (∼1 keV) and β ∼ 2.65 (2.6) at energies above. For both shock events, the downstream electron spectral indices appear to be similar for all pitch angles, which are significantly larger than the index prediction by diffusive shock acceleration. In addition, the downstream electron pitch-angle distributions show the anisotropic beams in the anti-sunward-traveling direction, while the ratio of the downstream over ambient fluxes appears to peak near 90° pitch angles, at all energies of ∼0.4–50 keV. These results suggest that in both shocks, shock drift acceleration likely plays an important role in accelerating electrons in situ at 1 au. Such ICME-driven shocks could contribute to the formation of solar wind halo electrons at energies ≲2 keV, as well as the production of solar wind superhalo electrons at energies ≳2 keV in interplanetary space.

Coronal mass ejections and their sheath regions in interplanetary space

Interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) are large-scale heliospheric transients that originate from the Sun. When an ICME is sufficiently faster than the preceding solar wind, a shock wave develops ahead of the ICME. The turbulent region between the shock and the ICME is called the sheath region. ICMEs and their sheaths and shocks are all interesting structures from the fundamental plasma physics viewpoint. They are also key drivers of space weather disturbances in the heliosphere and planetary environments. ICME-driven shock waves can accelerate charged particles to high energies. Sheaths and ICMEs drive practically all intense geospace storms at the Earth, and they can also affect dramatically the planetary radiation environments and atmospheres. This review focuses on the current understanding of observational signatures and properties of ICMEs and the associated sheath regions based on five decades of studies. In addition, we discuss modelling of ICMEs and many fundamental outstanding questions on their origin, evolution and effects, largely due to the limitations of single spacecraft observations of these macro-scale structures. We also present current understanding of space weather consequences of these large-scale solar wind structures, including effects at the other Solar System planets and exoplanets. We specially emphasize the different origin, properties and consequences of the sheaths and ICMEs.

Statistical Study of ICMEs and Their Sheaths During Solar Cycle 23 (1996 – 2008)

We have created a new catalog of 325 interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) using their in-situ plasma signatures from 1996 to 2008; this time period includes Solar Cycle 23. The data set came from the OMNI near-Earth database. The one-minute resolution data that we used include magnetic-field strength, solar-wind speed, proton density, proton temperature, and plasma β. We compared this new catalog with other published catalogs. For every event, we indicated the presence of an ICME-driven shock. We identified the boundaries of ICMEs and their sheaths, and examined the statistical properties of characteristic parameters. We derived the duration and radial width of ICMEs and sheaths in the region near Earth. The statistical analysis of all events shows that, on average, sheaths travel faster than ICMEs, which indicates the expansion of CMEs in the interplanetary medium. They have higher mean magnetic-field strength values than ICMEs, and they are denser. They have higher mean proton temperature and plasma β than ICMEs, but they are smaller than ICMEs and last for a shorter time. The events were divided into different categories according to whether they included a shock and according to the phase of Solar Cycle 23 in which they are observed, i.e. ascending, maximum, or descending phase. We compared the different categories. We present a catalog of events available to the scientific community that studies ICMEs, and show the distribution and statistical properties of various parameters during these phenomena that govern the solar wind, the interplanetary medium, and space weather.

Radial and Latitudinal Variations of the Energetic Particle Response to ICMES

We present energetic particle observations during events in which the interplanetary counterpart of a single coronal mass ejection (ICME) has been observed by spacecraft widely separated in radial distance and latitude. The effects that ICMEs have on energetic particle intensities depend on (1) the ability of ICMEs to drive strong shocks able to accelerate energetic particles, (2) the existence of an intra-ICME energetic particle population, and (3) the capability of the ICMEs to confine (or exclude) energetic particles. These three factors depend upon (1) the energy of the particles, (2) the solar wind medium in which the ICMEs propagate, (3) the mechanisms of energetic particle transport within and around the ICMEs, and (4) the magnetic topology of the ICMEs. As ICMEs expand, ICME-driven shocks weaken and intra-ICME magnetic field intensities decrease. These changes, together with the fortuitous occurrence of solar energetic particle events during the transit time of the ICMEs to large distances are the main causes for the different energetic particle signatures observed during the passage of the same ICME at two distant heliospheric locations.

Interplanetary shock wave extent in the inner heliosphere as observed by multiple spacecraft

For over an entire solar cycle, from the end of 1974 until the beginning of 1986, the twin Helios spacecraft explored the inner heliosphere. These in situ, high-resolution plasma and magnetic field measurements covered heliocentric distances between 0.3 and 1 AU from the Sun and are of particular interest to studies of space weather phenomena. During this period the two spacecraft detected 395 ICME-driven shocks and these waves were found to be driven by interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs). Based on these multi-spacecraft measurements, which include a third vantage point with the observations from ISEE-3/IMP-8, the longitudinal extent of the shock waves were measured in the inner heliosphere. It was found that shock waves have about a 50% chance to be observed by two different locations separated by 90 ° . In practice, one can expect with about a 50% chance that the shock driven by a limb coronal mass ejections (CMEs) will hit the Earth, considering the expansion in longitude of shock waves driven by their associated ICMEs. For a larger separation the uncertainty increases, as only a few cases could be observed. With the absence of simultaneous solar disk observations one can then no longer unequivocally identify the shock waves observed at each spacecraft.

Solar proton events during the solar cycle 23 and their association with CME parameters

We have studied the solar proton events associated with the coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and flares during the solar cycle 23 (1997–2006) in order to determine what physical parameters of the solar eruptions might control the SPE intensity and time profile. For total 63 SPEs, we found that (1) SPE rise time, duration time and decrease times depend on a CME speed (cc=0.34, 0.48 and 0.48) and (2) a SPE peak intensity depends on an earthward direction parameter of a CME as well as the CME speed and x-ray flare intensity (cc=0.40, 0.31 and 0.37). The SPEs were divided into two groups according to the correlation between the CME earthward direction parameter and the SPE intensity. First group consists of large six SPEs (>10,000 pfu at >10 MeV proton channel of GOES satellite) and shows a very good correlation (cc=0.65) between the SPE peak intensity and the CME earthward direction parameter. Second group has a relatively weak SPE peak intensity and shows no correlation (cc=0.01) between the SPE peak intensity and the CME earthward direction parameter we found that the first group SPEs are associated with a very fast halo CME (>1400 km/s) and most of those are located at disk except for only one case. Especially, large six SPEs have a good correlation with their associated CME earthward direction parameters, implying that these events are produced by ICME-driven shocks. We also found that those six SPEs are associated with the preceding CMEs originated from the same solar source region and a nearby pre-existing helmet streamer. Thus, we speculate that the preceding CME and helmet streamer might provide seed particles for CME-driven shocks and cause a clear separation between two groups.

Multi-Spacecraft Study of the 21 January 2005 ICME

We examine the near-Earth Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejection (ICME) apparently related to the intense Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) event of 20 January 2005. Our purpose is to contribute to the understanding of the macroscopic structure, evolution and dynamics of the solar corona and heliosphere. Using Cluster, ACE and Wind data in the solar wind, and Geotail data in the magnetosheath, we perform a multi-spacecraft analysis of the ICME-driven shock, post-shock magnetic discontinuities and ejecta. Traversals by the well-separated near-Earth spacecraft provide a coherent picture of the ICME geometry. Following the shock, the ICME sequence starts with a hot pileup, i.e., a sheath, followed by a fast ejecta characterised by a non-compressive density enhancement (NCDE), which is caused essentially by an enrichment in helium. The plasma and magnetic observations of the ejecta are consistent with the outskirts of a structure in strong expansion, consisting of nested magnetic loops still connected to the Sun. Within the leading edge of the ejecta, we establish the presence of a tilted current sheet substructure. An analysis of the observations suggests that the tilted current sheet is draped within the overlying cloud canopy, ahead of a magnetic cloud-like structure. The flux rope interpretation of this structure near L1, confirmed by observations of the corresponding magnetic cloud, provided by Ulysses at 5.3 AU and away from the Sun – Earth line, indicates that the bulk of the cloud is in the northwest sector as seen from the Earth, with its axis nearly perpendicular to the ecliptic. This is consistent with the primary direction of travel of the fast halo CME observed at the Sun. Moreover, the NCDE and helium enrichment are consistent with the position near the streamer belt of the flaring active region NOAA 10720 associated with the CME. However, differences between interplanetary and solar observations indicate a large rotation of the erupting filament and overlying arcade, which can be attributed to the flux rope being subject to the helical kink instability.

ACE OBSERVATIONS OF THE BASTILLE DAY 2000 INTERPLANETARY DISTURBANCES

We present ACE observations for the six-day period encompassing the Bastille Day 2000 solar activity. A high level of transient activity at 1 AU, including ICME-driven shocks, magnetic clouds, shock-accelerated energetic particle populations, and solar energetic ions and electrons, are described. We present thermal ion composition signatures for ICMEs and magnetic clouds from which we derive electron temperatures at the source of the disturbances and we describe additional enhancements in some ion species that are clearly related to the transient source. We describe shock acceleration of 0.3–2.0 MeV nucl−1 protons and minor ions and the relative inability of some of the shocks to accelerate significant energetic ion populations near 1 AU. We report the characteristics of < 20 MeV nucl−1 solar energetic ions and < 0.32 MeV electrons and attempt to relate the release of energetic electrons to particular source regions.