Influence of the ambient solar wind flow on the propagation behavior of interplanetary CMEs

Abstract

We study three CME/ICME events (2008 June 1-6, 2009 February 13-18, 2010 April 3-5) tracked from Sun to 1 AU in remote-sensing observations of STEREO Heliospheric Imagers and in situ plasma and magnetic field measurements. We focus on the ICME propagation in IP space that is governed by two forces, the propelling Lorentz force and the drag force. We address the question at which heliospheric distance range the drag becomes dominant and the CME gets adjusted to the solar wind flow. To this aim we analyze speed differences between ICMEs and the ambient solar wind flow as function of distance. The evolution of the ambient solar wind flow is derived from ENLIL 3D MHD model runs using different solar wind models, namely Wang-Sheeley-Arge (WSA) and MHD-Around-A-Sphere (MAS). Comparing the measured CME kinematics with the solar wind models we find that the CME speed gets adjusted to the solar wind speed at very different heliospheric distances in the three events under study: from below 30 Rs, to beyond 1 AU, depending on the CME and ambient solar wind characteristics. ENLIL can be used to derive important information about the overall structure of the background solar wind, providing more reliable results during times of low solar activity than during times of high solar activity. The results from this study enable us to get a better insight into the forces acting on CMEs over the IP space distance range, which is an important prerequisite in order to predict their 1 AU transit times.

accepted for publication in ApJ

References in corpus (6)

• Torus instability
• No Trace Left Behind: Stereo Observation of a Coronal Mass Ejection without Low Coronal Signatures
• Propagation of an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection in three dimensions
• Accuracy and Limitations of Fitting and Stereoscopic Methods to Determine the Direction of Coronal Mass Ejections from Heliospheric Imagers Observations
• Energetics of solar coronal mass ejections
• Solar Wind Drag and the Kinematics of Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections

Cited by in corpus (57)

• The Interaction of Successive Coronal Mass Ejections: A Review
• Connecting speeds, directions and arrival times of 22 coronal mass ejections from the Sun to 1 AU
• Origins of the Ambient Solar Wind: Implications for Space Weather
• Characteristics of kinematics of a coronal mass ejection during the 2010 August 1 CME-CME interaction event
• Multi-point shock and flux rope analysis of multiple interplanetary coronal mass ejections around 2010 August 1 in the inner heliosphere
• Global Trends of CME Deflections Based on CME and Solar Parameters
• Quantitative Comparison of Methods for Predicting the Arrival of Coronal Mass Ejections at Earth based on multi-view imaging
• Comparative Study of MHD Modeling of the Background Solar Wind
• Drag-Based Ensemble Model (DBEM) for Coronal Mass Ejection Propagation
• Interplanetary Propagation Behavior of the Fast Coronal Mass Ejection from 23 July 2012
• Heliospheric Propagation of Coronal Mass Ejections: Drag-Based Model Fitting
• Why the Shock-ICME Complex Structure is Important: Learning From the Early 2017 September CMEs
• ElEvoHI: a novel CME prediction tool for heliospheric imaging combining an elliptical front with drag-based model fitting
• Asymmetry in the CME-CME interaction process for the events from 2011 February 14-15
• Radial Evolution of Coronal Mass Ejections Between MESSENGER, Venus Express, STEREO, and L1: Catalog and Analysis
• CME propagation: Where does solar wind drag take over?
• Full Halo Coronal Mass Ejections: Arrival at the Earth
• Real-time solar wind prediction based on SDO/AIA coronal hole data
• Predicting Coronal Mass Ejections transit times to Earth with neural network
• Evolution and Consequences of Interacting CMEs of 2012 November 9-10 using STEREO/SECCHI and In Situ Observations
• Estimating arrival time of Earth-directed CMEs at \textit{in-situ} spacecraft using COR & HI observations from STEREO
• Propagation of the 7 January 2014 CME and Resulting Geomagnetic Non-Event
• Constraining the Kinematics of Coronal Mass Ejections in the Inner Heliosphere with In-Situ Signatures
• Probabilistic Drag-Based Ensemble Model (DBEM) Evaluation for Heliospheric Propagation of CMEs
• Deriving CME density from remote sensing data and comparison to in-situ measurements
• What is Unusual about the Third Largest Geomagnetic Storm of Solar Cycle 24?
• A comparison of reconstruction methods for the estimation of CME kinematics based on SECCHI/HI observations
• Multi-instrument view on solar eruptive events observed with the Siberian Radioheliograph: From detection of small jets up to development of a shock wave and CME
• Assessing the Influence of Input Magnetic Maps on Global Modeling of the Solar Wind and CME-driven Shock in the 2013 April 11 Event
• Determination of Coronal Mass Ejection physical parameters from combination of polarized visible light and UV Lyman-$\alpha$ observations
• Using gradient boosting regression to improve ambient solar wind model predictions
• Low-frequency type II radio detections and coronagraph data to describe and forecast the propagation of 71 CMEs/shocks
• Modeling the Early Evolution of a Slow Coronal Mass Ejection Imaged by the Parker Solar Probe
• A Coronal Mass Ejection and Magnetic Ejecta Observed In Situ by STEREO-A and Wind at 55${}^{\circ }$ Angular Separation
• 2D solar wind speeds from 6 to 26 solar radii in solar cycle 24 by using Fourier filtering
• Application of a Modified Spheromak Model to Simulations of Coronal Mass Ejection in the Inner Heliosphere
• Effect of Solar Wind Drag on the Determination of the Properties of Coronal Mass Ejections from Heliospheric Images
• Validation scheme for solar coronal models -- constraints from multi-perspective observations in EUV and white-light
• Kinematic Properties of Slow ICMEs and an Interpretation of a Modified Drag Equation for Fast and Moderate ICMEs
• Single ICMEs and Complex Transient Structures in the Solar wind in 2010 -- 2011
• Propagation of Coronal Mass Ejections from the Sun to Earth
• Drag-based CME modeling with heliospheric images incorporating frontal deformation: ELEvoHI 2.0
• Effect of the solar wind density on the evolution of normal and inverse coronal mass ejections
• Clustering of fast Coronal Mass Ejections during the solar cycles 23 and 24 and implications for CME-CME interactions
• Radial Speed Evolution of Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections During Solar Cycle 23
• Kinematical properties of coronal mass ejections
• Evolution of CME Properties in the Inner Heliosphere: Prediction for Solar Orbiter and Parker Solar Probe
• Automated Detection of Accelerating Solar Eruptions using Parabolic Hough Transform
• Assessing the Constrained Harmonic Mean Method for Deriving the Kinematics of ICMEs with a Numerical Simulation
• Reconstructing solar wind inhomogeneous structures from stereoscopic observations in white-light: Solar wind transients in 3D
• Development and Parameters of a Non-Self-Similar CME Caused by Eruption of a Quiescent Prominence
• Using Coordinated Observations in Polarised White Light and Faraday Rotation to Probe the Spatial Position and Magnetic Field of an Interplanetary Sheath
• Determination of CME orientation and consequences for their propagation
• Dynamics of solar Coronal Mass Ejections: forces that impact their propagation
• Deriving the interaction point between a Coronal Mass Ejection and High Speed Stream: A case study
• Using Forbush decreases to derive the transit time of ICMEs propagating from 1 AU to Mars
• Investigation of the Forces that Govern the Three-Dimensional Propagation and Expansion of Coronal Mass Ejections from Sun to Earth