Solar cycle variations in the elemental abundance of helium and fractionation of iron in the fast solar wind: Indicators of an evolving energetic release of mass from the lower solar atmosphere

We present and discuss the strong correspondence between evolution of the emission length scale in the lower transition region and in situ measurements of the fast solar wind composition during the most recent solar minimum. We combine recent analyses demonstrating the variance in the (supergranular) network emission length scale measured by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (and STEREO) with that of the helium abundance (from Wind) and the degree of iron fractionation in the solar wind (from the Advanced Composition Explorer and Ulysses). The net picture developing is one where a decrease in the helium abundance and the degree of iron fractionation (approaching values expected of the photosphere) in the fast wind indicate a significant change in the process loading material into the fast solar wind during the recent solar minimum. This result is compounded by a study of the helium abundance during the space age using the NASA OMNI database, which shows a slowly decaying amount of helium being driven into the heliosphere over the course of several solar cycles.