Associations between coronal mass ejections and solar energetic proton events

A comparison between proton events and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) based on nearly three years of observations around the recent maximum of solar activity is presented. Peak proton fluxes are found to correlate with both the speeds and the angular sizes of the associated CMEs. It is shown that CME speeds do not significantly correlate with CME angular sizes, so that peak proton fluxes are correlated with two independent CME parameters. With larger angular sizes, CMEs are more likely to be loops and fans rather than jets and spikes and are more likely to intersect the ecliptic.