  Magnetic clouds (MCs) are formed by flux ropes (FRs) launched from the Sun as
part of coronal mass ejections (CMEs). They carry away an important amount of
magnetic flux and helicity. The main aim of this study is to quantify these
quantities from insitu measurements of MCs at 1 AU. The fit of these data by a
local FR model provides the axial magnetic field strength, the radius, the
magnetic flux and the helicity per unit length along the FR axis. We show that
these quantities are statistically independent of the position along the FR
axis. We then derive the generic shape and length of the FR axis from two sets
of MCs. These results improve the estimation of magnetic helicity. Next, we
evaluate the total magnetic flux and helicity crossing the sphere of radius of
1 AU, centered at the Sun, per year and during a solar cycle. We also include
in the study two sets of small FRs which do not have all the typical
characteristics of MCs. While small FRs are at least ten times more numerous
than MCs, the magnetic flux and helicity are dominated by the contribution from
the larger MCs. They carry in one year the magnetic flux of about 25 large
active regions and the magnetic helicity of 200 of them. MCs carry away an
amount of unsigned magnetic helicity comparable to the one estimated for the
solar dynamo and the one measured in emerging active regions.
