Interplanetary Scintillation Observations of Solar-Wind Disturbances During Cycles 23 and 24

Interplanetary scintillation (IPS) analysis is an effective technique for remotely sensing solar-wind disturbances, such as stream-interaction regions (SIRs) and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are the main drivers of space weather. Here, we employed 327-MHz IPS observations conducted at the Institute of Space–Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University for the period of 1997 – 2019 to determine IPS indices that represent the density-fluctuation level of the inner heliosphere. We then compared these indices with the solar-wind density and speed measured near the Earth. Consequently, we found weak but significant positive correlations between the IPS indices and both the solar-wind density and speed gradient at a time lag of 0 days. This suggests that an increase in IPS indices corresponds to the arrival of the compression region associated with SIR or CME at the Earth, which is consistent with model calculations. Significant negative correlations were observed between the IPS and disturbance storm time (Dst) indices at a time lag of a few days; however, the correlations were too weak to enable reliable predictions of space weather. Possible reasons for these weak correlations are also discussed. Using the IPS indices, we determined the solar-cycle variation in the occurrence rate of solar-wind disturbances for the analysis period. The occurrence rates exhibited two maxima corresponding to the solar maximum and minimum, which are generally consistent with the combined effects of CME and SIR. The lower occurrence rates in Cycle 24 than in Cycle 23 reflect a weaker solar activity. These results suggest that the proposed IPS indices are useful for studying the long-term characteristics of solar-wind disturbances.