In a recent study, we took advantage of a highly tilted coronal neutral sheet to show that density structures, extending radially over several solar radii (R s ), are released in the forming slow solar wind approximately 4-5 R s above the solar surface. We related the signatures of this formation process to intermittent magnetic reconnection occurring continuously above helmet streamers. We now exploit the heliospheric imagery from the Solar Terrestrial Relation Observatory (STEREO) to map the spatial and temporal distribution of the ejected structures. We demonstrate that streamers experience quasi-periodic bursts of activity with the simultaneous outpouring of small transients over a large range of latitudes in the corona. This cyclic activity leads to the emergence of welldefined and broad structures. Derivation of the trajectories and kinematic properties of the individual small transients that make up these large-scale structures confirms their association with the forming slow solar wind (SSW). We find that these transients are released, on average, every 19.5 hr, simultaneously at all latitudes with a typical radial size of 12 R s . Their spatial distribution, release rate, and three-dimensional extent are used to estimate the contribution of this cyclic activity to the mass flux carried outward by the SSW. Our results suggest that, in interplanetary space, the global structure of the heliospheric current sheet is dominated by a succession of blobs and associated flux ropes. We demonstrate this with an example event using STEREO-A in situ measurements.

The origin of the slow solar wind is still a topic of much debate. The continual emergence of small transient structures from helmet streamers is thought to constitute one of the main sources of the slow wind. Determining the height at which these transients are released is an important factor in determining the conditions under which the slow solar wind forms. To this end, we have carried out a multipoint analysis of small transient structures released from a north-south tilted helmet streamer into the slow solar wind over a broad range of position angles during Carrington Rotation 2137. Combining the remote-sensing observations taken by the Solar-TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) mission with coronagraphic observations from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SoHO) spacecraft, we show that the release of such small transient structures (often called blobs), which subsequently move away from the Sun, is associated with the concomitant formation of transient structures collapsing back towards the Sun; the latter have been referred to by previous authors as 'raining inflows'. This is the first direct association between outflowing blobs and raining inflows, which locates the formation of blobs above the helmet streamers and gives strong support that the blobs are released by magnetic reconnection.