Interplanetary Type IV Bursts

Abstract

We study the characteristics of moving type IV radio bursts that extend to hectometric wavelengths (interplanetary type IV or type IVIP bursts) and their relationship with energetic phenomena on the Sun. Our dataset comprises 48 interplanetary type IV bursts observed with the Radio and Plasma Wave Investigation (WAVES) instrument onboard Wind in the 13.825 MHz - 20 kHz frequency range. The dynamic spectra of the Radio Solar Telescope Network (RSTN), the Nançay Decametric Array (DAM), the Appareil de Routine pour le Traitement et l' Enregistrement Magnetique de l' Information Spectral (ARTEMIS-IV), the Culgoora, Hiraso, and the Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radio Wave Propagation (IZMIRAN) Radio Spectrographs were used to track the evolution of the events in the low corona. These were supplemented with soft X-ray (SXR) flux-measurements from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) and coronal mass ejections (CME) data from the Large Angle and Spectroscopic Coronagraph (LASCO) onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). Positional information of the coronal bursts was obtained by the Nançay Radioheliograph (NRH). We examined the relationship of the type IV events with coronal radio bursts, CMEs, and SXR flares. The majority of the events (45) were characterized as compact, their duration was on average 106 minutes. This type of events was, mostly, associated with M- and X-class flares (40 out of 45) and fast CMEs, 32 of these events had CMEs faster than 1000 kms−¹. Furthermore, in 43 compact events the CME was possibly subjected to reduced aerodynamic drag as it was propagating in the wake of a previous CME. A minority (three) of long-lived type _IVIP bursts was detected, with durations from 960 minutes to 115 hours. These events are referred to as extended or long duration and appear to replenish their energetic electron content, possibly from electrons escaping from the corresponding coronal type IV bursts. The latter were found to persist on the disk, for tens of hours to days. Prominent among them was the unusual interplanetary type IV burst of 18 - 23 May 2002, which is the longest event in the Wind/WAVES catalog. The three extended events were typically accompanied by a number of flares, of GOES class C in their majority, and of CMEs, many of which were slow and narrow.