3-d evolution of solar wind streams and suprathermal particles

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Robert F. Wimmer-Schweingruber
• Subject Area: Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Term: from 2008 to 2012
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 64101029

We will address the origin of the fast and slow solar wind and quantify the relative importance of coronal-hole size and superradial expansion factor in determining fast wind speed and composition and search for other determining factors, such as wave activity. We will test two hypotheses for the origin of the slow wind, that it originates at the edges of coronal holes and that it originates in active regions by mapping back in-situ observations to solar and coronal features and correlating their spatio-temporal behavior with in-situ data. We will investigate the large-scale structure and the solar and coronal origin of interfaces and discontinuities in the solar wind and their evolution based on three-or-more-point studies with data from the twin Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) and the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft. We will also use the unique opportunity offered by Ulysses’ quadratures in winters 07 and 08 to determine the extent of out-of-ecliptic superradial expansion of coronal holes.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants