Influence of Active Regions on Solar Wind Characteristics at the Cycle Maximum

Active regions (ARs) on the Sun are discussed as a possible source of the slow solar wind (SW) whose origin is still a subject of debates. In this paper we present experimental evidence for the possible influence of ARs on the SWspeed and temperature near the maximum of solar cycle 23 (2000-2002). We have studied separately the characteristics of the SW formed in the periods when ARs were on the central meridian (CM) of the Sun (approximate to 40% of the entire observing time) and the characteristics of the SW formed in the absence of ARs on the CM (approximate to 60% of the observing time). The SW speed in the former case (in the presence of ARs), on average, have turned out to be lower than the speed of the SWformed in the absence of ARs approximately by 1% (434.06 versus 438.09 km s(-1) with a measurement error sigma approximate to 0.37 km s(-1)). For the SWtemperature the corresponding difference is about 6% (94 600K versus 100 500 K with an error sigma approximate to 340 K). This result confirms, on average, a lower speed and temperature of the SW forming in ARs in comparison with the SWcomponent forming in coronal holes.