Plasma properties of driver gas following interplanetary shocks observed by ISEE-3 (open access)

Plasma properties of driver gas following interplanetary shocks observed by ISEE-3

Plasma fluid parameters calculated from solar wind and magnetic field data obtained on ISEE 3 were studied to determine the characteristic properties of driver gas following interplanetary shocks. Of 54 shocks observed from August 1978 to February 1980, 9 contained a well defined driver gas that was clearly identifiable by a discontinuous decrease in the average proton temperature across a tangential discontinuity. While helium enhancements were present in all of 9 of these events, only about half of them contained simultaneous changes in the two quantities. Often the He/H ratio changed over a period of minutes. Simultaneous with the drop in proton temperature the helium and electron temperature decreased abruptly. In some cases the proton temperature depression was accompanied by a moderate increase in magnetic field magnitude with an unusually low variance and by an increase in the ratio of parallel to perpendicular temperature. The drive gas usually displayed a bi-directional flow of suprathermal solar wind electrons at higher energies (>137 eV).
Date: January 1, 1982
Creator: Zwickl, R. D.; Asbridge, J. R.; Bame, S. J.; Feldman, W. C.; Gosling, J. T. & Smith, E. J.
System: The UNT Digital Library