Introduction to Special Issue on high speed solar wind streams and geospace interactions (HSS-GI)

This special issue of the Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics is devoted to research into high speed solar wind streams (HSSs) and their effects on the region of near-Earth space commonly known as ‘geospace’. Interest in the effects of HSSs has increased during the last solar cycle and, following the successful meeting focusing on corotating solar wind streams in Manaus, Brazil (Tsurutani et al., 2006), we recognised the need for further work on the topic, with particular focus on HSSs and their effects in the inner magnetosphere, ionosphere, and neutral atmosphere. As a result the High Speed Solar Wind Streams and Geospace Interactions (HSS–GI) Workshop was held at Hilltop, St. Martin's College in Ambleside, UK, from 2 to 7 September, 2007 (Kavanagh and Denton, 2007; Denton et al., 2008 M.H. Denton, J.E. Borovsky, R.B. Horne, R.L. McPherron, S.K. Morley and B.T. Tsurutani, High speed solar wind streams: a call for key research, EOS Trans. AGU 89 (7) (2008), pp. 62–63. Full Text via CrossRef | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (7)Denton et al., 2009), sponsored by the Department of Communication Systems at Lancaster University. The majority of the work presented in this special issue was prompted by discussion and interaction at the workshop. It is indeed an indication of the importance of HSSs that the papers in this issue cover the entire region from the Sun and solar wind, through the magnetosphere, and into the ionosphere, thermosphere, and down to the stratosphere. It is hoped that this research will stimulate more understanding, appreciation, and research, into these important drivers of physical phenomena within geospace.

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