Sun-to-Earth Observations and Characteristics of Isolated Earth-Impacting Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections During 2008-2014

TL;DR

This study analyzes isolated Earth-impacting interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) from 2008 to 2014, examining their in situ signatures, source types, and magnetic characteristics to understand their physical properties and effects.

Contribution

It provides a detailed classification and analysis of 31 isolated Earth-impacting ICMEs, linking their in situ signatures to their solar source types and eruption characteristics.

Findings

Different ICME signatures depend on spacecraft trajectory (apex vs. flank).

Magnetic obstacle events show flux rope characteristics, ejecta do not.

Correlations between ICME properties and source types support physical models.

Abstract

A sample of isolated Earth-impacting ICMEs that occurred in the period January 2008 to August 2014 is analysed in order to study in detail the ICME in situ signatures with respect to the type of filament eruption related to the corresponding CME. For Earth-directed CMEs, a kinematical study was performed using the STEREO-A, B COR1 and COR2 coronagraphs and the Heliospheric Imagers HI1. Based on the extrapolated CME kinematics, we identified interacting CMEs, which were excluded from further analysis. Applying this approach, a set of 31 isolated Earth-impacting CMEs was unambiguously identified and related to the in situ measurements recorded by the Wind spacecraft. We classified the events into subsets with respect to the CME source location as well as with respect to the type of the associated filament eruption. Hence, the events are divided into three subsamples: active region (AR) CMEs, disappearing filament (DSF) CMEs, and stealthy CMEs. The related three groups of ICMEs were further divided into two subsets: magnetic obstacle (MO) events (out of which four were stealthy), covering ICMEs that at least partly expose characteristics of flux ropes, and ejecta (EJ) events, not showing such characteristics. In the next step, MO-events were analysed in more detail, considering the magnetic field strengths and the plasma characteristics in three different segments of the ICMEs, defined as the turbulent sheath (TS), the frontal region (FR), and the MO itself. The analysis revealed various well-defined correlations for AR, DSF, and stealthy ICMEs, which we interpreted considering basic physical concepts. Our results support the hypothesis that ICMEs show different signatures depending on the in situ spacecraft trajectory, in terms of apex versus flank hits.