ICME Observations During the Ulysses Fast Latitude Scan

Abstract

Between November 2000 and October 2001 the Ulysses spacecraft performed a fast traversal of the heliospheric latitudes between 80°S and 80°N, a period close to the activity maximum of the current solar cycle. This paper provides an overview of the Ulysses observations of the transient solar wind structures associated with coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) during this period. Compared to the previous Ulysses fast latitude scan near solar minimum in 1995, many more ICME related signatures were observed in the present data set. Events were encountered spread over the full latitude range between 80°S and 80°N. Those at high northern latitudes, where fast solar wind from a northern polar coronal hole had become re‐established, were of the over‐expanding type first identified in Ulysses data at mid‐latitudes near solar minimum. The signatures of these events and their latitude dependence are discussed and some ongoing and possible future studies with this data set are described. © 2003 American Institute of Physics