Analysis of Radio Signatures Associated with the Origin, Nature, Dynamics and Interrelationship of Solar Transient Phenomena

Catholic University Of America, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

The objective of this proposal is to use radio, white-light, and X-ray observations of the Sun, as well as in-situ plasma and particle data, to provide temporal and dynamic constraints that will lead to a better physics-based understanding of the origin, nature, dynamics, and interrelationship of individual solar transient phenomena (such as CMEs and solar energetic particles) that affect the near-Earth space environment. The PI's goal is to determine how the interpretation of solar radio data can benefit from the constraints imposed by complementary solar observations, and vice versa. The PI will focus on three interrelated areas: Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) origin and dynamics, the origin and propagation of accelerated solar energetic particles, and solar cycle comparisons of CME-generated radio emissions. To carry out these investigations, the low frequency radio data from the Wind, Ulysses, ISEE-3, and eventually STEREO spacecraft will be augmented with ground-based radio observations, as well as with soft and hard X-ray data, CME height-time and density data, solar images, and in-situ solar wind plasma and particle data. These various observations will be analyzed, within the context of appropriate physical models, to achieve a quantitative understanding of the interrelation of these solar transient phenomena and their relevance to space weather. These comprehensive analyses will advance the knowledge needed to track CMEs and solar energetic particle events to improve space weather predictions, as well as to quantify the characteristics and dynamics of these solar transients over the 11-year sunspot cycle. Contributing to broader impacts, the PI will establish and maintain a web-based public database of observed type II/IV radio events. He will also analyze individual type II events as these data are received. The results of these preliminary analyses will be e-mailed to other researchers and space weather forecasters. In addition to predicting the velocity profiles and Earth arrival times of CMEs, the PI's analyses will also help correlate particular solar events with space weather events. The PI will continue his participation in interdisciplinary conferences and workshops [e.g., SHINE, International Solar Cycle Studies (ISCS), and the Elmau/ISSI CME Workshops] and he will maintain and strengthen his collaboration with the theory group at the University of Sydney, including their Ph.D. students.