Source regions of solar wind disappearance events

Abstract

During the period 1999–2002 there have been three instances, in May 1999, March 2002, and May 2002, respectively, when the solar wind densities at 1 AU dropped to abnormally low values (<0.1 cm⁻³) for extended periods of time (12–24 h). These long-lasting low-density anomalies observed at 1 AU are referred to as “solar wind disappearance events” and in this paper, we locate the solar sources of the two disappearance events in March and May 2002 and show that like the well-studied disappearance event of 11 May 1999, these events too originate in active region complexes located at central meridian and are characterized by highly nonradial solar wind outflows. We also show that during disappearance events, the interplanetary magnetic field is stable and unipolar and the associated solar wind outflows have extended Alfven radii. Using the fact that solar wind flows from active regions have higher ratios of O⁷⁺/O⁶⁺ than wind from coronal holes, we try to pinpoint the solar sources of these very unusual and rare events and show that they represent the dynamic evolution of either active region open fields or small coronal hole boundaries embedded in or near large active region complexes located at or close to central meridian.