Structure and evolution of the large-scale solar and heliospheric magnetic fields
Thesis/Dissertation
·
OSTI ID:5364203
The structure and evolution of the large-scale photospheric and coronal magnetic fields in the interval 1976-1983 were studied using observations from the Stanford Solar Observatory and a potential-field model. The solar wind in the heliosphere is organized into large regions in which the magnetic field has a component either toward or away from the sun. The model predicts the location of the current sheet separating these regions. Near solar minimum, in 1976, the current sheet lay within a few degrees of the solar equator having two extensions north and south of the equator. Soon after minimum the latitudinal extent began to increase. The sheet reached to at least 50/sup 0/ from 1978 through 1983. The complex structure near maximum occasionally included multiple current sheets. Large-scale structures persist for up to two years during the entire interval. To minimize the errors in determining the heliospheric field structure, particular attention was paid to decreasing the distorting effects of rapid field evolution, finding the optimum source surface radius, determining the correction to the sun's polar field, and handling missing data. The predicted structure agrees with direct interplanetary field measurements taken near the ecliptic and with coronameter and interplanetary scintillation measurements which infer the three-dimensional interplanetary magnetic structure.
- Research Organization:
- Stanford Univ., CA (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 5364203
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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