Coronal and Interplanetary Propagation of CME/Shocks from Radio, In Situ and White-Light Observations

Abstract

The kinematics of CMEs are well characterized to 32 R_solar by height-time measurements from existing space-based and ground-based coronagraphs. Although there has been long-standing, but indirect, evidence that CMEs can exhibit significant deceleration as they propagate from Sun to Earth, the interplanetary kinematics of CMEs are not presently well understood. Since white-light measurements beyond 30 R_solar have only recently become available, quantitative information on the interplanetary kinematics of CMEs have hitherto been provided primarily by remote radio observations. Using the constraints imposed by the low-frequency radio emissions generated by shocks driven by CMEs, the measured 1 AU transit times and the calculated in situ shock speeds, together with the required consistency with the white-light measurements, we provide a comprehensive quantitative analysis of the interplanetary transport of 42 CME/shocks observed during solar cycle 23. The analyses of these events provide insights into when, where, and how fast CMEs decelerate as they propagate through the corona and interplanetary medium. The results of our analyses show that, while there are wide variations in the kinematics for the individual CME events, there are some notable correlations between the parameters that characterize the deceleration of these CMEs to 1 AU.