分类： 地球科学 >> 空间物理学 提交时间： 2016-12-26
Liu, Ying D.
Hu, Huidong
Wang, Chi
Luhmann, Janet G.
Richardson, John D.()
Yang, Zhongwei
Wang, Rui1()
摘要： As a follow-up study on Sun-to-Earth propagation of fast coronal mass ejections (CMEs), we examine the Sun-to-Earth characteristics of slow CMEs combining heliospheric imaging and in situ observations. Three events of particular interest, the 2010 June 16, 2011 March 25, and 2012 September 25 CMEs, are selected for this study. We compare slow CMEs with fast and intermediate-speed events, and obtain key results complementing the attempt of Liu et al. to create a general picture of CME Sun-to-Earth propagation: (1) the Sun-to-Earth propagation of a typical slow CME can be approximately described by two phases, a gradual acceleration out to about 20-30 solar radii, followed by a nearly invariant speed around the average solar wind level; (2) comparison between different types of CMEs indicates that faster CMEs tend to accelerate and decelerate more rapidly and have shorter cessation distances for the acceleration and deceleration; (3) both intermediate-speed and slow CMEs would have speeds comparable to the average solar wind level before reaching 1 au; (4) slow CMEs have a high potential to interact with other solar wind structures in the Sun-Earth space due to their slow motion, providing critical ingredients to enhance space weather; and (5) the slow CMEs studied here lack strong magnetic fields at the Earth but tend to preserve a flux-rope structure with an. axis generally perpendicular to the radial direction from the Sun. We also suggest a "best" strategy for the application of a triangulation concept in determining CME Sun-to-Earth kinematics, which helps to clarify confusions about CME geometry assumptions in the triangulation and to improve CME analysis and observations.
分类： 地球科学 >> 空间物理学 提交时间： 2016-12-26
摘要： We study the solar energetic particle (SEP) event associated with the 2012 July 23 extreme solar storm, for which Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) and the spacecraft at L1 provide multi-point remote sensing and in situ observations. The extreme solar storm, with a superfast shock and extremely enhanced ejecta magnetic fields observed near 1 au at STEREO A, was caused by the combination of successive coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Meanwhile, energetic particles were observed by STEREO and near-Earth spacecraft such as the Advanced Composition Explorer and SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory, suggesting a wide longitudinal spread of the particles at 1 au. Combining the SEP observations with in situ plasma and magnetic field measurements, we investigate the longitudinal distribution of the SEP event in connection with the associated shock and CMEs. Our results underscore the complex magnetic configuration of the inner heliosphere formed by solar eruptions. Examination of particle intensities, proton anisotropy distributions, element abundance ratios, magnetic connectivity, and spectra also gives important clues for particle acceleration, transport, and distribution.
分类： 地球科学 >> 空间物理学 提交时间： 2016-12-22
摘要： In 2012 March the Sun exhibited extraordinary activities. In particular, the active region NOAA AR 11429 emitted a series of large coronal mass ejections (CMEs) which were imaged by the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory as it rotated with the Sun from the east to west. These sustained eruptions are expected to generate a global shell of disturbed material sweeping through the heliosphere. A cluster of shocks and interplanetary CMEs were observed near the Earth, and are propagated outward from 1 AU using an MHD model. The transient streams interact with each other, which erases memory of the source and results in a large merged interaction region (MIR) with a preceding shock. The MHD model predicts that the shock and MIR would reach 120 AU around 2013 April 22, which agrees well with the period of radio emissions and the time of a transient disturbance in galactic cosmic rays detected by Voyager 1. These results are important for understanding the "fate" of CMEs in the outer heliosphere and provide confidence that the heliopause is located around 120 AU from the Sun.
分类： 地球科学 >> 空间物理学 提交时间： 2016-05-12
Liu, Ying D.
Hu, Huidong
Wang, Rui
Yang, Zhongwei
Zhu, Bei
Liu, Yi A.
Luhmann, Janet G.
Richardson, John D.
摘要： The largest geomagnetic storms of solar cycle 24 so far occurred on 2015 March 17 and June 22 with D-st minima of -223 and -195 nT, respectively. Both of the geomagnetic storms show a multi-step development. We examine the plasma and magnetic field characteristics of the driving coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in connection with the development of the geomagnetic storms. A particular effort is to reconstruct the in situ structure using a Grad-Shafranov technique and compare the reconstruction results with solar observations, which gives a larger spatial perspective of the source conditions than one-dimensional in situ measurements. Key results are obtained concerning how the plasma and magnetic field characteristics of CMEs control the geomagnetic storm intensity and variability: (1) a sheath-ejecta-ejecta mechanism and a sheath-sheath-ejecta scenario are proposed for the multi-step development of the 2015 March 17 and June 22 geomagnetic storms, respectively;(2) two contrasting cases of how the CME flux-rope characteristics generate intense geomagnetic storms are found, which indicates that a southward flux-rope orientation is not a necessity for a strong geomagnetic storm;and (3) the unexpected 2015 March 17 intense geomagnetic storm resulted from the interaction between two successive CMEs plus the compression by a high-speed stream from behind, which is essentially the "perfect storm" scenario proposed by Liu et al. (i.e., a combination of circumstances results in an event of unusual magnitude), so the "perfect storm" scenario may not be as rare as the phrase implies.
分类： 地球科学 >> 空间物理学 提交时间： 2016-05-12
摘要： We present high-resolution observations of a quiescent solar prominence that consists of a vertical and a horizontal foot encircled by an overlying spine and has ubiquitous counter-streaming mass flows. While the horizontal foot and the spine were connected to the solar surface, the vertical foot was suspended above the solar surface and was supported by a semicircular bubble structure. The bubble first collapsed, then reformed at a similar height, and finally started to oscillate for a long time. We find that the collapse and oscillation of the bubble boundary were tightly associated with a flare-like feature located at the bottom of the bubble. Based on the observational results, we propose that the prominence should be composed of an overlying horizontal spine encircling a low-lying horizontal and vertical foot, in which the horizontal foot consists of shorter field lines running partially along the spine and has ends connected to the solar surface, while the vertical foot consists of piling-up dips due to the sagging of the spine fields and is supported by a bipolar magnetic system formed by parasitic polarities (i.e., the bubble). The upflows in the vertical foot were possibly caused by the magnetic reconnection at the separator between the bubble and the overlying dips, which intruded into the persistent downflow field and formed the picture of counter-streaming mass flows. In addition, the counter-streaming flows in the horizontal foot were possibly caused by the imbalanced pressure at the both ends.
分类： 地球科学 >> 空间物理学 提交时间： 2016-05-12
摘要： We study the role of the coronal magnetic field configuration of an active region (AR) in determining the propagation direction of a coronal mass ejection (CME). The CME occurred in the AR 11944 (S09W01) near the disk center on 2014 January 7 and was associated with an X1.2 flare. A new CME reconstruction procedure based on a polarimetric technique is adopted, which shows that the CME changed its propagation direction by around 28 degrees in latitude within 2.5 R-circle dot and 43 degrees in longitude within 6.5 R-circle dot with respect to the CME source region. This significant non-radial motion is consistent with the finding of Mostl et al. We use nonlinear force-free field and potential field source surface extrapolation methods to determine the configurations of the coronal magnetic field. We also calculate the magnetic energy density distributions at different heights based on the extrapolations. Our results show that the AR coronal magnetic field has a strong influence on the CME propagation direction. This is consistent with the "channeling" by the AR coronal magnetic field itself, rather than deflection by nearby structures. These results indicate that the AR coronal magnetic field configuration has to be taken into account in order to determine CME propagation direction correctly.
分类： 地球科学 >> 空间物理学 提交时间： 2016-05-12
摘要： Voyager 2 (V2) observed multiple crossings of the heliospheric termination shock (TS) on 2007 August 31-September 1 at a distance of 84 AU from the Sun. Here, for the first time, we present two-dimensional particle-incell (PIC) simulations of the TS self-consistently including pickup ions (PUIs), and compare the simulation results with V2 observations. We find that (1) PUIs play a key role in the energy dissipation of the TS, and most of the incident ion kinetic energy is transferred to the thermal energy of PUIs. The PIC simulation indicates that, for the upstream parameters chosen for V2 conditions, the density of PUIs is about 25% and the PUIs gain the largest fraction (approximately 86.6%) of downstream thermal pressure. (2) The simulated heliosheath ion distribution function is a superposition of a cold core formed by transmitted solar wind ions (SWIs), with the shoulders contributed by the hot reflected SWIs and directly transmitted PUIs, and the wings of the distribution dominated by the very hot reflected PUIs. The V2 Faraday cups observed the cool core of the distribution, and so they only saw the tip of the iceberg. (3) The nonstationarity of the shock front is mainly caused by ripples along the shock front which form even if the percentage of PUIs is high. These simulation results agree reasonably well with the V2 experimental data. The relevance of the shock front ripples to the multiple TS crossings observed by V2 is also discussed in this paper.
分类： 地球科学 >> 空间物理学 提交时间： 2016-05-04
Mostl, Christian
Rollett, Tanja
Frahm, Rudy A.
Liu, Ying D.
Long, David M.
Colaninno, Robin C.
Reiss, Martin A.
Temmer, Manuela
Farrugia, Charles J.
Posner, Arik
Dumbovica, Mateja
Janvier, Miho
Demoulin, Pascal
Boakes, Peter
Devos, Andy
Kraaikamp, Emil
Mays, Mona L.
Vrsnak, Bojan
摘要： The severe geomagnetic effects of solar storms or coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are to a large degree determined by their propagation direction with respect to Earth. There is a lack of understanding of the processes that determine their non-radial propagation. Here we present a synthesis of data from seven different space missions of a fast CME, which originated in an active region near the disk centre and, hence, a significant geomagnetic impact was forecasted. However, the CME is demonstrated to be channelled during eruption into a direction + 37 +/- 10 degrees (longitude) away from its source region, leading only to minimal geomagnetic effects. In situ observations near Earth and Mars confirm the channelled CME motion, and are consistent with an ellipse shape of the CME-driven shock provided by the new Ellipse Evolution model, presented here. The results enhance our understanding of CME propagation and shape, which can help to improve space weather forecasts.
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