We present Ulysses solar wind plasma data from the peak southerly latitude of −80.2° on 12 September 1994 through the corresponding northerly latitude on 31 July 1995. Ulysses encountered fast wind throughout this time except for a 43° band centered on the solar equator. Median mass flux was nearly constant with latitude, while speed and density had positive and negative poleward gradients, respectively. Solar wind momentum flux was highest at high latitudes, suggesting a latitudinal asymmetry in the heliopause cross section. Solar wind energy flux density was also highest at high latitudes.

Abstract. Ulysses observations of the high-latitude solar wind were combined with Spartan 201 observations of the corona to investigate the nature and extent of uncertainties in our knowledge of solar wind structure near the Sun. In addition to uncertainties stemming from the propagation of errors in density profiles inferred from coronagraph observations [see, e.g., Lallement et al., 1986], an assessment of the consequences of choosing different analysis assumptions reveals very large, fundamental uncertainties in our knowledge of even the basics of coronal structure near the Sun. In the spirit of demonstrating the nature and extent of these uncertainties we develop just one of a generic class of explicitly time-dependent and filamentary models of the corona that is consistent with the Ulysses and Spartan 201 data. This model provides a natural explanation for the radial profiles of both the axial ratios and apparent radial speeds of density irregularities measured at radial distances less than 10 Rs using the interplanetary scintillation technique.

Ulysses observations of the interplanetary magnetic field reveal well‐ordered rotations on the timescale of several hours. These have been previously identified as “arc‐polarized” Alfvén waves. Rotational discontinuities (RDs) are often an integral part of the wave. This study focuses on a statistical description of these rotations (ARCs) in the ecliptic plane. It is found that (1) most ARCs are limited to 180° or less in rotation; (2) these ARCs account for between 5 and 10% of the total data set; (3) there appears to be no preferred helicity; (4) the minimum‐variance direction typically makes a large oblique angle with the average magnetic field (), while the intermediate‐variance direction is loosely aligned with ; (5) most of the events display a small but significant nonzero magnetic field component in the direction of minimum variance; (6) the cross helicity of the ARCs tends to be higher than during non‐ARC intervals; (7) there are 2.4 times more discontinuities during ARC intervals than during non‐ARC intervals; (8) essentially all ARCs are propagating outward in the rest frame of the solar wind plasma; and (9) there is no simple relationship between the rate of occurrence of the ARCs and heliocentric distance. Comparing these results with the predicted signatures of a number of models, it is found that arc‐polarized Alfvén waves with embedded RDs propagating along the minimum‐variance direction best fit the majority of events.

Abstract.Observations using the very large array (VLA) radio interferometer during the past five years have enabled the discovery of a new type of plasmasphere disturbance, the magnetic eastward-directed wave. Previous work indicated these disturbances were likely frozen to the geomagnetic field as determined from their azimuth distributions. This work provides a method to explain more accurately the azimuth distribution, thereby allowing the calculation of the disturbances' location in the plasmasphere independently of the measured velocity. The measurable velocity due to corotation is calculated and subtracted from the measured trace velocity. This difference, or deviation from corotation, is attributed to electrodynamic convection; the measurement of plasmaspheric convection may lead to the eventual monitoring of mid-latitude electric fields. Disturbances are seen convecting predominantly westward, with the fastest having angular velocities greater than the anticorotating VLA line of sight. The direction of convection and conditions of observations indicate that the disturbances are likely the same phenomenon seen by the Los Alamos satellite beacon array.

A radio‐interferometer array illuminated by 136‐MHz beacons of several geosynchronous satellites has been used to study small (≥ 1013 m−2) transient disturbances in the total electron content along the lines of sight to the satellites. High‐frequency (ƒ> 3 mHz) electron content oscillations are persistently observed, particularly during night and particularly during geomagnetically disturbed periods. The oscillations move across the array plane at speeds in the range 200–2000 m/s, with propagation azimuths that are strongly peaked in lobes toward the western half‐plane. Detailed analysis of this azimuth behavior, involving comparison between observations on various satellite positions, indicates compellingly that the phase oscillations originate in radio refraction due to geomagnetically aligned plasma density perturbations in the inner plasmasphere. The motion of the phase perturbations across the array plane is caused by E × B drift of the plasma medium in which the irregularities are embedded. We review the statistics of 2.5 years of around‐the‐clock data on the local time, magnetic disturbance, seasonal, and line‐of‐sight variations of these observed irregularities. We compare the irregularities' inferred electrodynamic drifts to what is known about midlatitude plasma drift from incoherent scatter. Finally, we show in detail how the observation of these irregularities provides a unique and complementary monitor of inner plasmasphere irregularity incidence and zonal drift.