SH21A-2381
A Unified Scenario for the Solar Wind Phenomenon
Tuesday, 15 December 2015
Poster Hall (Moscone South)
Mark Stakhiv, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, MI, United States, Susan T Lepri, Univ Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States and Enrico Landi, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Departament of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
Abstract:
The solar wind was traditionally divided into two types: a fast, coronal hole associated wind and a slow, streamer associated wind. Previously, in Stakhiv et al. 2015, this bimodal view of the solar wind was expanded to include a subclass of fast solar wind called boundary wind emanating from the edge of coronal holes. Here we expand upon this work using ACE data. Using compositional data we investigate the solar wind with velocity less than 450 km/s and present arguments for the presence of multiple source regions: coronal holes and closed loops opened by reconnection. Finally, we find that the compositional and kinetic properties of the solar wind point to Alfvén wave acceleration in both the fast and slow solar wind. Thus, we develop the Unified Wind Scenario, where the solar wind has two different source regions – open magnetic field regions in coronal holes, and closed quiescent loops opened be reconnection, and one single acceleration mechanism: Alfvén wave acceleration.
