Acceleration of 3He nuclei at interplanetary shocks

We have surveyed the 0.5-2.0 MeV nucleon(-1) ion composition of 56 interplanetary (LP) shocks observed with the Ultra-Low-Energy Isotope Spectrometer on board the Advanced Composition Explorer from 1997 October I through 2000 November 30. Our results show the first ever measurement (25 cases) of He-3 ions being accelerated at IP shocks. The He-3/He-4 ratio at the 25 shocks exhibited a wide range of values between 0.0014 and 0.24; the ratios were enhanced between factors of similar to3 and 600 over the solar wind value. During the survey period, the occurrence probability of He-3-rich shocks increased with rising solar activity as measured in terms of the daily occurrence rates of sunspots and X-ray flares. The He-3 enhancements at IP shocks cannot be attributed to a rigidity-dependent acceleration of solar wind ions and are better explained if the shocks accelerate ions from multiple sources, one being remnant impulsive solar hare material enriched in He-3 ions. Our results also indicate that the contribution of impulsive hares to the seed population for IP shocks varies from event to event and that the interplanetary medium is being replenished with impulsive material more frequently during periods of increased solar activity.