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Leamon et al. 2002
Leamon, R.J., Canfield, R.C. and Pevtsov, A.A. (2002). Properties of magnetic clouds and geomagnetic storms associated with eruption of coronal sigmoids. Journal of Geophysical Research 107: doi: 10.1029/2001JA000313. issn: 0148-0227.

We study 46 solar coronal eruptions associated with sigmoids seen in images from the Yohkoh Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT). We relate the properties of the sigmoids to in situ measurements at 1 AU and geomagnetic storms. Our primary result is that erupting sigmoids tend to produce geoeffective magnetic clouds (MCs): 85% of the erupting sigmoidal structures studied spawned at least a moderate (|Dst| ≥ 50 nT) geomagnetic storm. A collateral result is that MCs associated with sigmoids do not show the same solar-terrestrial correlations as those associated with filaments and, as such, form a distinct class of events. First, rather than reversing with the global solar dipole (at solar maximum), the leading field in MCs weakly (2:1) shows a solar cycle (Hale polarity) based correlation (reversing at solar minimum). Second, whereas the handedness of MCs associated with filament eruptions is strongly (95%) related to their launch hemisphere, that of MCs associated with sigmoid eruptions is only weakly (~70%) so related. Finally, we are unaware of any model of the magnetic fields of sigmoids and their eruption that gives a useful prediction of the leading field orientation of their associated MC.

BACKGROUND DATA FILES

Abstract

Keywords
Interplanetary Physics, Ejecta, driver gases, and magnetic clouds, Magnetospheric Physics, Solar wind/magnetosphere interactions, Solar Physics, Astrophysics, and Astronomy, Corona, Solar Physics, Astrophysics, and Astronomy, Coronal mass ejections
Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research
http://www.agu.org/journals/jb/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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