Title: Successive CMEs and Transient Flow Systems
Author: L. F. Burlaga
Affil: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Email: u2leb@lepvax.gsfc.nasa.gov
Authors: Simon Plunkett and O. C. St Cyr
Abstract: In a previous study, transient flow systems
(consisting of two or more ejecta)were first
identified at 1 AU and were then found to be
associated with successive halo CMEs in the
corona (Burlaga et al., J. Geophys. Res., 2001,
in press). Here we adopt the complementary
approach, first identifying successive halo CMEs
(occurring in a 2 – 4 day interval, with a source
near central meridian) in the LASCO coronagraph
on SOHO and then searching for the corresponding
flows in the ACE data at 1 AU. Four sets of
successive CMEs were identified in the period from
Nov 4, 1998 to November 26, 2000. Each set of
successive CMEs was associated with a transient
flow system. Each transient flow system contained
fast solar wind, typically a compound stream, and some material
with an enhanced He++/H+ ratio. The magnetic field
strength was enhanced in each transient flow
system, typically with multiple peaks. Both
magnetic clouds and complex ejecta were found in
some of the transient flow systems, but each
transient flow system was different. We conclude
that each set of successive CMEs collided and
interacted between the corona and 1 AU to form a
transient flow system, whose structure depends
on the nature of the individual CMEs, their
relative positions and geometry, and the nature
of the interactions.