S.W. Kahler

Air Force Research Laboratory, 29 Randolph Rd., Hanscom AFB, MA 01731-3010

The sources of gradual solar energetic particle events are known to be coronal and interplanetary shocks driven by coronal mass ejections (CMEs). It has long been known that there is a correlation between peak intensities of the E > 20 MeV SEP events and the speeds of the associated CMEs. However, that correlation contains a high degree of scatter, suggesting that other factors also are important in the resulting SEP intensities. With several data sets other possible factors have been examined. These consist of the widths and latitudes of the CMEs, as well as their locations relevant to the streamer belt and interactions with streamers. Background SEP intensities, solar wind speeds, and average shock speeds to 1 AU have also been considered as candidate factors. Results of the comparisons of these factors with SEP intensities will be presented.