SHINE: Helicity Transport from the Solar Interior to the Corona and its Role in Flares and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs)

Association Of Universities For Research In Astronomy, Inc., Tucson AZ

Investigators

Abstract

The Principal Investigator (PI) and his research team will investigate the transport of helicity from the solar interior through the photosphere and into the corona, in order to better understand the role of helicity in triggering solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The PI will undertake a statistical study of almost 1,000 solar active regions observed by ground-based and space-based instruments. Using techniques he and his team have previously developed, the PI will calculate the kinetic helicity of subphotospheric flows associated with these regions and investigate the evolution of that helicity erupting through the solar surface. This idea of treating the solar interior and corona as a single coupled system is innovative and potentially transformative. This interdisciplinary investigation will have direct benefits to space weather forecasting. The PI and his team will compare changes in the pattern and amplitude of kinetic helicity below the photosphere, and the magnetic helicity of photospheric and coronal fields with flare and CME activity of active regions, with the goal of achieving better predictions of solar flares and CME eruptions. The PI will present the results of this research at annual scientific meetings and workshops.