HR: 1330h
AN: SH13A-03    [Abstracts]
TI: Global Structure of the Out-of-ecliptic Solar Wind
AU: * Whang, Y
EM: whang@cua.edu
AF: Dept Mechanical Engineering, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC 20064 United States
AU: Wang, Y
EM: ywang@yucca.nrl.navy.mil
AF: Code 7672, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375 United States
AU: Sheeley, N
EM: sheeley@spruce.nrl.navy.mil
AF: Code 7672, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375 United States
AU: Burlaga, L
EM: burlaga@lepvax.gsfc.nasa.gov
AF: Code 692, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AB: We use the observed photospheric field maps and the wind speed observed from Ulysses to study the out-of-ecliptic solar wind. The model calculates the wind speed from the rate of magnetic flux-tube expansion factor using a conversion function that is determined by least-squares fit of all currently available data from Ulysses. Using the best-fit conversion function we investigate the global solar wind at all latitudes, from 90§ south to 90§ north, covering a 36-year period from 1968 through 2003. The results complement and expand upon earlier studies conducted with IPS and other in situ spacecraft observations. The rotationally averaged wind speed is a function of two parameters: the heliolatitude and the phase of the solar cycle. The out-of-ecliptic solar wind has a recurrent stable structure, the average wind speed varies like a sine square of latitude profile spanning more than 5 years during the declining phase and solar minimum in each solar cycle. Near solar maximum the structure of the out-of-ecliptic solar wind is in a transient state lasting 2 to 3 years when the stable structure breaks down during the disappearance and reappearance of the polar coronal holes. We also report the Ulysses observations of the stable and transient structure.
DE: 2162 Solar cycle variations (7536)
DE: 2164 Solar wind plasma
DE: 7511 Coronal holes
DE: 7524 Magnetic fields
DE: 7536 Solar activity cycle (2162)
SC: SPA-Solar and Heliospheric Physics [SH]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly