One proposed mechanism for heating the solar wind, from close to the sun to beyond ∼ 10 AU, invokes lowfrequency, oblique, Alfvén-wave turbulence. Because small-scale oblique Alfvén waves (kinetic Alfvén waves) are compressive, the measured density fluctuations in the solar wind place an upper limit on the amplitude of kinetic Alfvén waves and hence an upper limit on the rate at which the solar...

Using data from WIND, SAMPEX (Solar, Anomalous, and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer), and the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) sensors onboard geostationary satellites, we investigate the correlation of energetic electrons in the 20-200 keV range in the solar wind and of high speed solar wind streams with relativistic electrons in the magnetosphere to determine whether energetic electrons...

We quantify the scaling of magnetic energy density in the inertial range of solar-wind turbulence seen in situ at 1 AU with respect to solar activity. At solar maximum, when the coronal magnetic field is dynamic and topologically complex, we find self-similar scaling in the solar wind, whereas at solar minimum, when the coronal fields are more ordered, we find multifractality. This quantifies t...

[1] In a 2008 publication a first principles calculation of the dayside reconnection rate expressed in terms of upstream–solar wind parameters led to a rudimentary solar wind coupling function R1 for the Earth’s magnetosphere. Four improvements to that derivation are added in the present paper, resulting in a more correct solar wind control function describing the rate at which solar wind magne...

Variations in the solar wind density introduce variable delays into pulsar timing observations. Current pulsar timing analysis programs only implement simple models of the solar wind, which not only limit the timing accuracy, but can also affect measurements of pulsar rotational, astrometric and orbital parameters. We describe a new model of the solar wind electron density content which uses ob...

Introduction: The solar wind reflects the composition of the Sun and physical processes in the corona. Analysis produces information on how the solar system was formed and on physical processes in the co-rona. The analysis can also produce information on the local interstellar medium, galactic evolution, comets in the solar wind, dust in the heliosphere, and matter escaping from planets. Histor...

The Genesis Discovery mission returned solar matter in the form of the solar wind with the goal of obtaining precise solar isotopic abundances (for the first time) and greatly improved elemental abundances. Measurements of the light noble gases in regime samples demonstrate that isotopes are fractionated in the solar wind relative to the solar photosphere. Theory is required for correction. Mea...

Geomagnetic storms and substorms develop under strong control of the solar wind. This is demonstrated by the fact that the geomagnetic activity indices Dst and AE can be predicted from the solar wind alone. A consequence of the strong control by a common source is that substorm and storm indices tend to be highly correlated. However, a part of this correlation is likely to be an e€ect of intern...

Solar wind variability spans a wide range of amplitudes and timescales, from turbulent fluctuations to the 11 year solar cycle. We apply the data quantile-quantile (DQQ) method to NASA/Wind observations spanning solar cycles 23 and 24, to study how the uniqueness of each cycle maximum and minimummanifests in the changing statistical distribution of plasma parameters in fast and slow solar wind....

Observations of the fast, high-latitude solar wind throughout Ulysses’ three orbits show that solar wind power correlates remarkably well with the Sun’s total open magnetic flux. These observations support a recent model of the solar wind energy and particle sources, where magnetic flux emergence naturally leads to an energy flux proportional to the strength of the large-scale magnetic field. T...