SHINE: Understanding Characteristics of Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs)

George Mason University, Fairfax VA

Investigators

Abstract

The objective of this project is to enhance understanding of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) by extending a prior SHINE project, entitled "A Study on Origins of Coronal Mass Ejections from 2002 to 2004." In the prior project, one of the findings was that CME acceleration can vary by three orders of magnitude, while the acceleration duration can also vary over the same broad dynamic range, from several minutes to more than 20 hours. In this project, the PI plans to further study CME characteristics based on extended observations from the SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory - Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SOHO EIT), Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph Experiment (LASCO), ground-based Mauna Loa coronagraphs, and many other relevant solar disk observations. There are five major tasks: (1) To make unambiguous association with flares for thousands of CME events observed from 1996 to 2007, and make a comprehensive association study between CMEs and flares. (2) To calculate true CME acceleration in the inner corona using the flare rise time as a proxy for CME acceleration time. (This statistical information about CME acceleration will add one important dimension to the existing statistics of CME velocity and size.) (3) To classify CME characteristics through comprehensive correlation studies among CME parameters and flare parameters. (4) To identify CME kinematic properties through comparative study of a group of events that have distinct characteristics and have been well observed by a variety of solar instruments. (Issues here include why some CMEs are extremely impulsive while others are extremely gradual, why some CMEs are particularly fast, and why some flares are eruptive and why others are confined.) (5) To study the possible factors that may determine the intrinsic size of a CME. This project directly addresses one of the major objectives of SHINE program, namely, to understand solar properties of CMEs and related phenomena, including their ultimate origin, precursors, and near-Sun evolution. This project will have significant broader impact, especially in integration of research with education, since George Mason University (GMU) has recently started an academic training program in space weather science. This project will support a full time graduate student at GMU.