Determination of coronal mass ejection orientation and consequences for their propagation

Abstract

Context. The configuration of the interplanetary magnetic field and features of the related ambient solar wind in the ecliptic and meridional plane are different. Therefore, one can expect that the orientation of the flux-rope axis of a coronal mass ejection (CME) influences the propagation of the CME itself. However, the determination of the CME orientation, especially from image data, remains a challenging task to perform. Aim. This study aims to provide a reference to different CME orientation determination methods in the near-Sun environment. Also, it aims to investigate the non-radial flow in the sheath region of the interplanetary CME (ICME) in order to provide the first proxy to relate the ICME orientation with its propagation. Methods. We investigated 22 isolated CME-ICME events in the period 2008–2015. We determined the CME orientation in the near-Sun environment using the following: (1) a 3D reconstruction of the CME with the graduated cylindrical shell (GCS) model applied to coronagraphic images provided by the STEREO and SOHO missions; and (2) an ellipse fitting applied to single spacecraft data from SOHO/LASCO C2 and C3 coronagraphs. In the near-Earth environment, we obtained the orientation of the corresponding ICME using in situ plasma and field data and also investigated the non-radial flow in its sheath region. Results. The ability of GCS and ellipse fitting to determine the CME orientation is found to be limited to reliably distinguish only between the high or low inclination of the events. Most of the CME-ICME pairs under investigation were found to be characterized by a low inclination. For the majority of CME-ICME pairs, we obtain consistent estimations of the tilt from remote and in situ data. The observed non-radial flows in the sheath region show a greater y direction to z direction flow ratio for high-inclination events, indicating that the CME orientation could have an impact on the CME propagation.