Occurrence Of Coronal Mass Ejections Research Articles

Coronal Mass Ejections and the Index of Effective Solar Multipole

The paper considers the relationship between the cyclic variations in the velocity of coronal mass ejections (CME) and the large-scale magnetic field structure (LSMF) in cycles 21 – 23. To characterize a typical size of the LSMF structure, we have used the index of the effective solar multipole (ESMI). The cyclic behavior of the CME occurrence rate and velocity proved to be similar to that of ESMI. The hysteresis observed in variations of the CME maximum velocity is interpreted as a manifestation of different contributions from the two field structures (local and global magnetic fields) in different phases of the 11-year activity cycle. It is suggested that cyclic variations in the maximum velocity of coronal mass ejections are due to different conditions for the formation of the complexes of active regions connected by coronal arch systems, which are the main source of high-velocity CMEs.

Estimating the geoeffectiveness of halo CMEs from associated solar and IP parameters using neural networks

Abstract. Estimating the geoeffectiveness of solar events is of significant importance for space weather modelling and prediction. This paper describes the development of a neural network-based model for estimating the probability occurrence of geomagnetic storms following halo coronal mass ejection (CME) and related interplanetary (IP) events. This model incorporates both solar and IP variable inputs that characterize geoeffective halo CMEs. Solar inputs include numeric values of the halo CME angular width (AW), the CME speed (Vcme), and the comprehensive flare index (cfi), which represents the flaring activity associated with halo CMEs. IP parameters used as inputs are the numeric peak values of the solar wind speed (Vsw) and the southward Z-component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) or Bs. IP inputs were considered within a 5-day time window after a halo CME eruption. The neural network (NN) model training and testing data sets were constructed based on 1202 halo CMEs (both full and partial halo and their properties) observed between 1997 and 2006. The performance of the developed NN model was tested using a validation data set (not part of the training data set) covering the years 2000 and 2005. Under the condition of halo CME occurrence, this model could capture 100% of the subsequent intense geomagnetic storms (Dst ≤ −100 nT). For moderate storms (−100 < Dst ≤ −50), the model is successful up to 75%. This model's estimate of the storm occurrence rate from halo CMEs is estimated at a probability of 86%.

MAXIMUM CORONAL MASS EJECTION SPEED AS AN INDICATOR OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITIES

We investigate the relationship between the monthly averaged maximal speeds of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), international sunspot number (ISSN), and the geomagnetic Dst and Ap indices covering the 1996-2008 time interval (solar cycle 23). Our new findings are as follows. (1) There is a noteworthy relationship between monthly averaged maximum CME speeds and sunspot numbers, Ap and Dst indices. Various peculiarities in the monthly Dst index are correlated better with the fine structures in the CME speed profile than that in the ISSN data. (2) Unlike the sunspot numbers, the CME speed index does not exhibit a double peak maximum. Instead, the CME speed profile peaks during the declining phase of solar cycle 23. Similar to the Ap index, both CME speed and the Dst indices lag behind the sunspot numbers by several months. (3) The CME number shows a double peak similar to that seen in the sunspot numbers. The CME occurrence rate remained very high even near the minimum of the solar cycle 23, when both the sunspot number and the CME average maximum speed were reaching their minimum values. (4) A well-defined peak of the Ap index between 2002 May and 2004 August was co-temporal with the excess of the mid-latitude coronal holes during solar cycle 23. The above findings suggest that the CME speed index may be a useful indicator of both solar and geomagnetic activities. It may have advantages over the sunspot numbers, because it better reflects the intensity of Earth-directed solar eruptions.

Trend of photospheric magnetic helicity flux in active regions generating halo coronal mass ejections

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Geometry of Coronal Mass Ejections in the Context of Recent Solar Cycle

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) disrupt the flow of the solar wind and produce disturbances that strike the Earth with sometimes catastrophic results. These ejections are often associated with solar flares and prominence eruptions, but they can also occur in the absence of either of these processes. The frequency of CMEs varies with the sunspot cycle. At the solar minimum we observed about one CME a week. Near the solar maximum we could observe an average of 2 to 3 CMEs per day. We have studied different CME characteristics based on the observation with Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) on board of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) space craft during the period 1996–2006. It is noteworthy that the rate of occurrence of class B CMEs (with the measurement position angle (MPA) in the range 200 o –360 o ) is greater than that for class A CMEs (the MPA in the range 50 o –200 o ). The CME occurrence spectrum for both classes follows the trend of the phase of solar cycle, and the maximum number of both type CMEs seems to occur during the maximum solar activity. It is also observed that the maximum numbers of class A, class B CMEs are in a speed range of 0-500 km/s. We have observed that the maximum number of class A, class B CMEs occurred in the apparent angular width range 0 o –90 o . It is also found that the maximum numbers of class A and class B CMEs occur when the position angle ranges in 5 o –100 o and 250 o –300 o respectively.

Analyzing the variation of Lyapunov exponents of solar and geomagnetic activity indices during coronal mass ejections

Hostile space weather is one of the principal threats to modern human technology because of the dependency of our lives on satellites. Solar coronal mass ejections, solar flares, and high‐speed solar wind streams often cause some sequences of damaging disturbances within the Earth's magnetosphere, in the atmosphere, and even on the Earth's surface. The time‐varying Sun, as the main source of space weather causes geomagnetic storms and substorms in many ways with coronal mass ejections (CME) being possibly the most harmful among them. CMEs cause transient magnetized plasma flows as interplanetary consequences, which drive the geomagnetic storms and substorms in the Earth's magnetosphere. It is shown that the cyclic solar activity has chaotic characteristics. It seems that the chaotic modeling of solar and geomagnetic activity indices is an important approach for analysis and prediction of the solar extreme events. This is particularly useful for engineers and designers interested in space weather prediction and its applications. One of the most important tools for eliciting the chaotic trends is the “Lyapunov exponents,” which is a useful measure of the stability of a dynamic system. This paper analyzes the variation of Lyapunov exponents (LE) for three solar and geomagnetic activity indices during CMEs: the sunspot number, disturbance storm time, and proton temperature. The analysis has been carried out using the technique of adaptive LE estimation adopted from previous works; the suitable window for which has been determined via trial and error. It is shown that the LE of these solar and geomagnetic activity indices varies rapidly during CMEs. The variation in LEs creates a pattern as a precursor for the forthcoming CME. This precursor, which is an oscillation in the values of Les, begins several steps sooner than the CME's occurrence. Then, during the CME, the LEs decrease to a small positive or a negative value, which demonstrates that during an anomaly such as a CME the chaotic characteristics of solar and geomagnetic activity indices decrease and solar and geomagnetic activity indices follow more regular dynamics.

Latitude Dependence of the Variations of Sunspot Group Numbers (SGN) and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) in Cycle 23

The 12-month running means of the conventional sunspot number Rz, the sunspot group numbers (SGN) and the frequency of occurrence of Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) were examined for cycle 23 (1996 – 2006). For the whole disc, the SGN and Rz plots were almost identical. Hence, SGN could be used as a proxy for Rz, for which latitude data are not available. SGN values were used for 5° latitude belts 0° – 5°, 5° – 10°, 10° – 15°, 15° – 20°, 20° – 25°, 25° – 30° and > 30°, separately in each hemisphere north and south. Roughly, from latitudes 25° – 30° N to 20° – 25° N, the peaks seem to have occurred later for lower latitudes, from latitudes 20° – 25° N to 15° – 20° N, the peaks are stagnant or occur slightly earlier, and then from latitudes 15° – 20° N to 0° – 5° N, the peaks seem to have occurred again later for lower latitudes. Thus, some latitudinal migration is suggested, clearly in the northern hemisphere, not very clearly in the southern hemisphere, first to the equator in 1998, stagnant or slightly poleward in 1999, and then to the equator again from 2000 onwards, the latter reminiscent of the Maunder butterfly diagrams. Similar plots for CME occurrence frequency also showed multiple peaks (two or three) in almost all latitude belts, but the peaks were almost simultaneous at all latitudes, indicating no latitudinal migration. For similar latitude belts, SGN and CME plots were dissimilar in almost all latitude belts except 10° – 20° S. The CME plots had in general more peaks than the SGN plots, and the peaks of SGN often did not match with those of CME. In the CME data, it was noticed that whereas the values declined from 2002 to 2003, there was no further decline during 2003 – 2006 as one would have expected to occur during the declining phase of sunspots, where 2007 is almost a year of sunspot minimum. An inquiry at GSFC-NASA revealed that the person who creates the preliminary list was changed in 2004 and the new person picks out more weak CMEs. Thus a subjectivity (overestimates after 2002) seems to be involved and hence, values obtained before and during 2002 are not directly comparable to values recorded after 2002, except for CMEs with widths exceeding 60°.

A quantitative MHD study of the relation among arcade shearing, flux rope formation, and eruption due to the tearing instability

The quantitative relationship between the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) activity of solar coronal arcade and the magnetic helicity injection, which is caused by shearing motion, has been investigated, using azimuthally symmetric model of MHD simulation. We have calculated several cases in which the width of the shearing region is varied and examined the relationship between the magnetic arcade dynamics and magnetic helicity evolution. As a result, it is found that as the shearing motion is imposed on narrower regions along each side of the magnetic inversion line, the magnetic arcade can be easily destabilized by the resistive tearing mode. However, in this case, even though reconnection driven by the tearing mode produces plasmoids, the plasmoid elevation is almost in proportion to the total amount of magnetic helicity contained in the arcade, and it is too slow to explain the trigger process of coronal mass ejections (CMEs). On the other hand, in the case where the shearing motion is imposed on the entire region, much larger magnetic helicity injection is required to injected arcade in order to destabilize the system, compared to practical helicity injection measured in the solar corona. The results suggest that it may be difficult to trigger a CME just by the axisymmetric shearing motion and that some other mechanisms should be involved in the triggering process of a CME. The results also imply that the relation between the magnetic helicity and the overlying magnetic flux can be a key parameter for the CME occurrence.

A Comparative Study between Eruptive X‐Class Flares Associated with Coronal Mass Ejections and Confined X‐Class Flares

We examine the two kinds of major energetic phenomena that occur in the solar atmosphere: eruptive and confined events. The former describes flares with associated coronal mass ejections (CMEs), while the latter denotes flares without associated CMEs. We find that about 90% of X-class flares are eruptive, but the remaining 10% are confined. To probe why the largest energy releases could be either eruptive or confined, we investigate four X-class events from each of the two types. Both sets of events are selected to have very similar intensities (X1.0 to X3.6) and duration (rise time under 13 minutes and decay time not over 9 minutes) in soft X-ray observations, to reduce any bias due to flare size on CME occurrence. We find that the occurrence of eruption (or confinement) is sensitive to the displacement of the location of the energy release, defined as the distance between the flare site and the flux-weighted magnetic center of the source active region. The displacement is 6 - 17 Mm for confined events but as large as 22 - 37 Mm for eruptive events. This means that confined events occur closer to the magnetic center, while the eruptive events tend to occur close to the edge of active regions. We use the potential field source-surface model to infer the coronal magnetic field above the source active regions and calculate the flux ratio of low (<1.1 Rs) to high (>1.1 Rs) corona. We find that the confined events have a lower ratio (<5.7) than the eruptive events (>7.1). These results imply that a stronger overlying arcade field may prevent energy releases in the low corona from being eruptive, resulting in flares, but without CMEs.

Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) Activity of Low Mass M Stars as An Important Factor for The Habitability of Terrestrial Exoplanets. I. CME Impact on Expected Magnetospheres of Earth-Like Exoplanets in Close-In Habitable Zones

Low mass M- and K-type stars are much more numerous in the solar neighborhood than solar-like G-type stars. Therefore, some of them may appear as interesting candidates for the target star lists of terrestrial exoplanet (i.e., planets with mass, radius, and internal parameters identical to Earth) search programs like Darwin (ESA) or the Terrestrial Planet Finder Coronagraph/Inferometer (NASA). The higher level of stellar activity of low mass M stars, as compared to solar-like G stars, as well as the closer orbital distances of their habitable zones (HZs), means that terrestrial-type exoplanets within HZs of these stars are more influenced by stellar activity than one would expect for a planet in an HZ of a solar-like star. Here we examine the influences of stellar coronal mass ejection (CME) activity on planetary environments and the role CMEs may play in the definition of habitability criterion for the terrestrial type exoplanets near M stars. We pay attention to the fact that exoplanets within HZs that are in close proximity to low mass M stars may become tidally locked, which, in turn, can result in relatively weak intrinsic planetary magnetic moments. Taking into account existing observational data and models that involve the Sun and related hypothetical parameters of extrasolar CMEs (density, velocity, size, and occurrence rate), we show that Earth-like exoplanets within close-in HZs should experience a continuous CME exposure over long periods of time. This fact, together with small magnetic moments of tidally locked exoplanets, may result in little or no magnetospheric protection of planetary atmospheres from a dense flow of CME plasma. Magnetospheric standoff distances of weakly magnetized Earth-like exoplanets at orbital distances <or=0.1 AU can be shrunk, under the action of CMEs, to altitudes of about 1,000 km above the planetary surface. Such compressed magnetospheres may have crucial consequences for atmospheric erosion processes.

Relationships Among Magnetic Clouds, CMES, and Geomagnetic Storms

During solar cycle 23, 82 interplanetary magnetic clouds (MCs) were identified by the Magnetic Field Investigation (MFI) team using Wind (1995 – 2003) solar wind plasma and magnetic field data from solar minimum through the maximum of cycle 23. The average occurrence rate is 9.5 MCs per year for the overall period. It is found that some of the anomalies in the frequency of occurrence were during the early part of solar cycle 23: (i) only four MCs were observed in 1999, and (ii) an unusually large number of MCs (17 events) were observed in 1997, just after solar minimum. We also discuss the relationship between MCs, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and geomagnetic storms. During the period 1996 – 2003, almost 8000 CMEs were observed by SOHO-LASCO. The occurrence frequency of MCs appears to be related neither to the occurrence of CMEs as observed by SOHO LASCO nor to the sunspot number. When we included “magnetic cloud-like structures” (MCLs, defined by Lepping, Wu, and Berdichevsky, 2005), we found that the occurrence of the joint set (MCs + MCLs) is correlated with both sunspot number and the occurrence rate of CMEs. The average duration of the MCL structures is ~40% shorter than that of the MCs. The MCs are typically more geoeffective than the MCLs, because the average southward field component is generally stronger and longer lasting in MCs than in MCLs. In addition, most severe storms caused by MCs/MCLs with Dst min≤ −100 nT occurred in the active solar period.

Coronal mass ejections and magnetic flux buildup in the heliosphere

To test for magnetic flux buildup in the heliosphere from coronal mass ejections (CMEs), we simulate heliospheric flux as a constant background open flux with a time‐varying interplanetary CME (ICME) contribution. As flux carried by ejecta can only contribute to the heliospheric flux budget while it remains closed, the ICME flux opening rate is an important factor. Two separate forms for the ICME flux opening rate are considered: (1) constant and (2) exponentially decaying with time. Coronagraph observations are used to determine the CME occurrence rates, while in situ observations are used to estimate the magnetic flux content of a typical ICME. Both static equilibrium and dynamic simulations, using the constant and exponential ICME flux opening models, require flux opening timescales of ∼50 days in order to match the observed doubling in the magnetic field intensity at 1 AU over the solar cycle. Such timescales are equivalent to a change in the ICME closed flux of only ∼7–12% between 1 and 5 AU, consistent with CSE signatures; no flux buildup results. The dynamic simulation yields a solar cycle flux variation with high variability that matches the overall variability of the observed magnetic field intensity remarkably well, including the double peak forming the Gnevyshev gap.

Two Sympathetic Homologous CMEs on 2002 May 22

Sympathetic coronal mass ejections (CMEs) usually occur in different active regions connected by interconnecting magnetic loops, while homologous CMEs occur within the same active region with an almost the same background magnetic field, and so are similar in shapes. Two sympathetic CMEs erupted within 3 hours on 2002 May 22, originating from the same active region, AR 9948. Their multi-wavelength data were collected and analyzed. It is suggested that emerging flux triggered the occurrence of the first CME and the corresponding flare, the reconnection inflow of which in turn triggered the eruption of the second CME. Based on the fact that the two sympathetic CMEs have many similarities, in their shapes, their low-lying dimming areas, etc., we tentatively propose, for the first time, the phenomenon of sympathetic homologous CMEs.

Coronal Mass Ejections and Galactic Cosmic‐Ray Modulation

We present a study of the long-term evolution of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) observed by the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronograph (LASCO) on board SOHO during the ascending, maximum, and part of the descending phases of solar cycle 23 and their relation with the modulation of galactic cosmic-ray (GCR) intensity observed at 1 AU by the Climax neutron monitor and IMP-8 spacecraft. We compare the long-term GCR modulation with the CME occurrence rate at all, low, and high latitudes, as well as the observed CME parameters (width and speed). Twenty-seven day averages of CME occurrence rates and CME properties from 1996 January to 2003 December are presented in the Appendix. The general anticorrelation between GCR intensity and the CME rate is relatively high (~-0.88). However, when we divide the CME rate into low- and high-latitude rates and compare them with the GCR intensity during the ascending phase of solar cycle 23, we find a lower anticorrelation between the low-latitude the CME rate and GCR intensity (~-0.71) and a very high anticorrelation between the high-latitude CME rate and GCR intensity (~-0.94). This suggests that, in general, CMEs could cause the decrease in the GCR flux in the inner heliosphere, as stated by the global merged interaction region (GMIR) theory. In particular, during the ascending phase of cycle 23 (qA > 0), this flux comes mainly from heliospheric polar regions. Thus, high-latitude CMEs may play a central role in the long-term cosmic-ray modulation during this phase of the cycle by blocking the polar entrance of GCRs to the inner heliosphere. This study supports the scenario in which CMEs, among other structures, are the building blocks of GMIRs, although we propose that the spherical shells (GMIRs) are closed separately at polar and equatorial regions by CMEs of different latitudes. Our results suggest that all CME properties show some correlation with the GCR intensity, although there is no specific property (width, speed, or a proxy of energy) that definitely has a higher correlation with GCR intensity.

The Search for Correlation between BiSON SMMF Data and CME Events

AbstractWe present first attempts to compare the Birmingham Solar-Oscillations Network (BiSON) high precision solar mean magnetic field (SMMF) data of four years with the occurrence of CMEs (coronal mass ejections) as recorded by LASCO on board SOHO. The BiSON magnetic measurement technique is given in Chaplin et al. (2003). Particularly interesting results of recent SMMF high-cadence observations have come from studies of correlation between the SMMF determined by MDI and the occurrence of CMEs (Boberg and Lundstedt 2000 and Boberg et al 2002). Two frequency ranges, centered on 13 and 90 minutes, have been identified as possibly correlating with CME occurrence.We have used BiSON SMMF data from two sites to investigate CME related SMMF signals to try to confirm the MDI results. To search methodically through our data set we have developed two correlation techniques suited to short (up to 32 minutes) and long (up to 3 hours) period wavelets, respectively. For short periods we analyzed SMMF data in the vicinity of CMEs, and for long periods we compared SMMF results for days with and without recorded CMEs. In neither period range have we yet clearly identified correlations between SMMF power excesses and CME onsets. For the details of the techniques and the results see Chaplin et al. (2004).

Extended search for correlation between solar mean magnetic field BiSON data and coronal mass ejections

The Birmingham Solar-Oscillations Network (BiSON) has acquired high-precision solar mean magnetic field (SMMF) data on a 40-s cadence for a decade. We present attempts to compare such data from recent years with the occurrence of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) as recorded by LASCO, using correlation techniques applied to measurements from different BiSON instruments to maximise the sensitivity to CME-related SMMF responses. SMMF measurements were recorded at the time of occurrence of several hundred CMEs. No CME event shows a convincing response in our SMMF data at short periods setting a threshold amplitude of 12 mG. By averaging data sets we are able to set lower thresholds, which depend somewhat on the distribution of response strengths. A brief summary of the very first results of this study is also given in Chaplin et al.

Eruptive and Quasi-Eruptive Disappearing Solar Filaments and Their Relationship with Coronal Activities

Abstract By measuring the 3-D velocity fields of 35 disappearing filaments (Disparition Brusques: DBs) on the solar disk, we studied the causal relationship between the motions of $\mathrm{H}\alpha$ DBs and the associated coronal phenomena. Using the derived 3-D velocity fields of the DBs, we developed a method to judge whether a DB is ejected into interplanetary space or whether it remains in the solar atmosphere. We compared the DB type thus obtained with the presence of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and other associated coronal activities. It is inferred that eruptive filaments are always followed by the formation of arcades, while most quasi-eruptive events are followed by localized changes in soft X-rays and the EUV. A close causal relation between eruptive filaments and CMEs was also found: of 15 DBs for which Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph data were available, all eight of the eruptive ones were associated with CMEs, while no CMEs were found following any of the 7 quasi-eruptive ones. These observational results indicate that the motions of $\mathrm{H}\alpha$ disappearing filaments are causally related to the associated coronal activities and also to the appearance of CMEs, and that an accurate analysis of their 3-D velocities is important not only for a better understanding of their acceleration and heating mechanisms, but also for predicting the occurrence of CMEs and geomagnetic storms.

An analysis of a solar active region that produced many CMEs

In April and May of 1998, six large burst events occurred one after the other in the active region AR8210. We have collected the data of this active region, including its soft X-rays, ultraviolet radiation, radio type-II and -IV bursts as well as its radioheliograph observations. It is found that the process of energy accumulation was rapid and the time profiles of three soft X- ray bursts exhibited a certain similarity. When coronal mass ejections (CMEs) took place, the magnetic loops in this active region were only partially open and they soon contracted to become a closed loop. Under the bombardment of non-thermal electrons, the active region was again heated and it produced intense X-ray bursts as well as type-II and -IV bursts. The weak part of the magnetic loop was like a volcanic crater from which CMEs can easily erupt again. The turn-off point, where non-thermal and thermal processes intersect, was found: on the SXR time profile it is a point of sudden change of slope, and type-III bursts, that successively occur in various layers of the corona, may be taken to be convincing evidence of the occurrence of CMEs and also a criterion for estimating the velocity of the CMEs.

Earthward directed CMEs seen in large‐scale coronal magnetic field changes, SOHO LASCO coronagraph and solar wind

One picture of coronal mass ejection (CME) initiation relates these events to the expansion into space of previously closed coronal magnetic fields, often part of the helmet streamer belt. The work described here makes use of the potential field source surface model based on updated synoptic photospheric field maps to study the large‐scale coronal field changes. We isolate those field lines that change from closed to open configurations (newly opening field lines) by comparing potential field source surface models from adjacent magnetograph observations, wherein the same starting foot points on the photosphere are used. If there are some newly opening field lines between the times of two maps, we assume there was a possibility for CME occurrence(s) between these times. In particular, if there are newly opening field lines near the solar disk center, an earthward directed CME may have been generated. Monitoring the coronal magnetic field behavior can in principle reinforce (or not) days in advance predictions of magnetic storms based on Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) Large‐Angle Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) halo CMEs. Moreover, the coronal field over the visible hemisphere contains information about the possible geoeffectiveness of a particular CME because it shows the approximate orientation and location of the active arcades. By comparing halo CMEs with the newly opening field lines, the solar wind measurements from Wind and ACE spacecraft and the Dst index, we show that, like soft X‐ray sigmoids, disappearing filaments, and Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) waves on the disk of the Sun, magnetograph observation‐based coronal field models may provide additional information on the likelihood of CME effects at the Earth.

Energetic proton observations at 1 and 5 AU: 1. January–September 1997

We present energetic particle observations by the Ulysses and Wind spacecraft during the years 1997–1998. During this period, Ulysses moved from +19° to −19° in heliographic latitude with heliocentric distances ranging from 4.71 to 5.41 AU. Wind was located near the Earth at 1 AU from the Sun in the ecliptic plane. The proximity of Ulysses to the ecliptic plane allows us to compare proton fluxes at different heliospheric distances and heliolongitudes but at similar latitudes. Enhancements in the energetic (approximately MeV) MeV proton fluxes were observed by both spacecraft in a close temporal association. We quantify this temporal coincidence and we distinguish two time intervals based on the energy range of the proton flux increases and on the solar wind streams observed by the Ulysses spacecraft. Each one of these two periods (period 1, January–September 1997 and period 2, October 1997 to December 1998) corresponds also to a different level of solar activity. We establish a direct correspondence between individual particle flux enhancements observed by both spacecraft throughout period 1. At 1 AU the proton flux enhancements are associated with the occurrence of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) at the Sun. At 5 AU the presence of high‐speed solar wind streams, the contribution of energetic particles from CMEs, and the evolution of the magnetic field structures along which energetic particles propagate determine the final shape of the proton flux enhancements and their time delays with respect to 1 AU. When a solar energetic particle (SEP) event is observed at 1 AU, particle flux enhancements associated with recurrent high‐speed solar wind streams at ∼5 AU show a higher particle flux intensity. We suggest that SEPs accelerated by CME‐driven shocks act as a background seed particle population available to be reaccelerated by shocks associated with corotating high‐speed streams.