The relationship between coronal and interplanetary magnetic fields

• Published in: Advances in space research Vol. 13; no. 9; pp. 31 - 42
• Main Author: Suess, Steven T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.01.1993
• ISSN: 0273-1177; 1879-1948
• DOI: 10.1016/0273-1177(93)90454-J

The morphology of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) is being used increasingly often to diagnose the state and solar origin of interplanetary plasma. For example, the heliospheric current sheet has been used to locate the magnetic equator and relate it to the coronal streamer belt. More often, recently, has been use of variance analysis of the IMF to infer the topology of apparent magnetic loops, magnetic draping, and relationships between the IMF and photospheric fields. These time-dependent IMF variations open new horizons for relating the IMF to the coronal field. Here, I review applications of coronal magnetic field models to predicting the quasi-steady IMF morphology and review recent applications of IMF variance analysis to diagnose origins and history of solar wind plasma.