The solar wind during current and past solar minima and maxima

Abstract

This paper presents solar wind data from the last five solar cycles. We review solar wind parameters over the four solar minima and five maxima for which spacecraft data are available and show the recovery from the last very weak minimum to the current solar maximum. The solar wind magnetic field, speed, and density have remained anomalously low in this time period. However, the distributions of these parameters about the (lower than normal) average are similar to those from previous solar minima and maxima. This result suggests that the acceleration mechanism for the recent weak solar wind is probably not significantly different from earlier solar cycles. The He++/H+ ratio variation with solar cycle continues to be a function of speed, but the most recent solar minimum has significantly lower ratios than in the previous solar cycle.