Stream Interaction Regions (SIRs) from Wind and ACE Data during 1995 − 2009

2025-03-25 14:43:15

The SIR include corotating interaction regions (CIRs) and tranisent stream interaction regions. The difference between a CIR and a transient SIR is only that a CIR recurs for two or more solar rotation cycles.
The SIRs are identified based on inspection of the following features: an increase of solar wind speed, a pile-up of total perpendicular pressure (Pt) with gradual decreases at both sides from the Pt peak to the edges of the interaction region, velocity deflections, an increase of proton number density, an
enhancement of proton temperature, an increase of entropy, a compression of magnetic field. We require the presence of at least 5 signatures, and identify SIRs with careful consideration of the ambient solar wind.
In order to survey the SIRs as completely as possible, we have used ACE data when the Wind data were unavailable or noisy and when Wind was near or within the magnetosphere.

1. Jian et al (Solar Physics, 239, 337-392, doi: 10.1007/s11207-006-0132-3, 2006) gives more details about the identification criteria and also the SIR list of 1995 – 2004.
2. The SIR list of 1995 – 2006 is an appendix of Lan Jian's 2008 PhD thesis from UCLA.
3. Jian et al. (Solar Physics, 274, 321-344, doi: 10.1007/s11207-011-9737-2, 2011) updates the results to 2009.
4. The solar cycle variation from 1995 to 2011 is published in Jian et al. (Amer. Inst. Phys. Proceedings of Solar Wind 13, 1539, 195-198, doi: 10.1063/1.4811021, 2013), where STEREO A/B is used for 1-AU observation beyond 2009.

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1995-01-01 19:37:00

2009-12-25 06:00:00

SIR #

CIR #

Start

UT [mm/dd hhmm]

End

UT [mm/dd hhmm]

Discontinuity

UT [mm/dd hhmm]

F/R Shock

F/R Shock: forward/reverse shock. "/" means neither a forward shock nor a reverse shock

Stream Interface (SI)

UT [mm/dd hhmm]

Ptmax

Ppa

Vmax

km/s

Vmin

km/s

ΔV

ΔV: change in solar wind velocity magnitude during one event.

km/s

Bmax

nT

Comments