Initiation of CMEs: A review

Solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are a striking manifestation of solar activity seen in the solar corona, which bring out coronal plasma as well as magnetic flux into the interplanetary space and may cause strong interplanetary disturbances and geomagnetic storms. Understanding the initiation of CMEs and forecasting them are an important topic in both solar physics and geophysics. In this paper, we review recent progresses in research on the initiation of CMEs. Several initiation mechanisms and models are discussed. No single model/simulation is able to explain all the observations available to date, even for a single event.     

2007-2012年Dstmin≤-50nT的中等以上地磁暴的行星际源统计

地磁暴的行星际源研究是了解及预报地磁暴的关键因素之一.本文研究了2007-2012年间的所有Dst_min ≤-50 nT的中等以上地磁暴,建立了这些地磁暴及其行星际源的列表.在这6年中,共发生了51次Dst_min≤-50 nT的中等以上地磁暴,其中9次为Dst_min≤-100 nT的强地磁暴事件.对比上一活动周相同时间段发现,在这段太阳活动极低的时间,地磁暴的数目显著减少.对这些地磁暴行星际源的分析表明,65%的中等以上地磁暴由与日冕物质抛射相关的行星际结构引起,31%的地磁暴由共转相互作用区引起,这与以前的结果一致.特别的,在这个太阳活动极低时期内,共转相互作用区没有引起Dst_min≤-100 nT的强地磁暴,同时,日冕物质抛射相关结构也没有引起Dst_min≤-200 nT的超强地磁暴.以上结果表明极低太阳活动同时导致了共转相互作用区和日冕物质抛射地磁效应的减弱.进一步,分析不同太阳活动期间地磁暴的行星际源发现:在太阳活动低年(2007-2009年),共转相互作用区是引起地磁暴的主要原因; 而在太阳活动上升期和高年(2010-2013年),大部分(75%,30/40)的中等以上地磁暴均由日冕物质抛射相关结构引起.     

Effects of the Sun on the Earth's environment

Solar disturbances are observed to have significant effects in near-Earth space. Over the past half-century of observation, a relatively clear picture has developed of how and why the typical solar wind — as well as the most extreme solar events — drive geospace responses. It is clear that magnetospheric substorms, geomagnetic storms (both recurrent and aperiodic events), and even certain atmospheric chemical changes have their origins in the solar–terrestrial coupling arena. High-speed solar wind streams and fast coronal mass ejections (CMEs) can often have strong interplanetary shock waves and southward magnetic fields which can initiate strong storm responses. We demonstrate in this review that available modern space-observing platforms and ground facilities allow us to trace drivers from the Sun to the Earth's atmosphere. This allows us to assess quantitatively the energy transport that occurs throughout the Sun–Earth system during both typical and extreme conditions. Hence, we are continuously improving our understanding of “space weather” and its effects on human society.     

Interplanetary phenomena associated with very intense geomagnetic storms

The dominant interplanetary phenomena that are frequently associated with intense magnetic storms are the interplanetary manifestations of fast coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Two such interplanetary structures, involving an intense and long duration B_s component of the IMF are: the sheath region behind a fast forward interplanetary shock, and the CME ejecta itself. Frequently, these structures lead to the development of intense storms with two-step growth in their main phases.These structures, when combined, lead sometimes to the development of very intense storms, especially when an additional interplanetary shock is found in the sheath plasma of the primary structure accompanying another stream. The second stream can also compress the primary cloud, intensifying the B_s field, and bringing with it an additional B_s structure. Thus, at times very intense storms are associated with three or more B_s structures.Another aspect that can contribute to the development of very intense storms refers to the recent finding that magnetic clouds with very intense core magnetic fields tend to have large velocities, thus implying large amplitude interplanetary electric fields that can drive very intense magnetospheric energization.     

Solar connections of geoeffective magnetic structures

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and high-speed solar wind streams (HSS) are two solar phenomena that produce large-scale structures in the interplanetary (IP) medium. CMEs evolve into interplanetary CMEs (ICMEs) and the HSS result in corotating interaction regions (CIRs) when they interact with preceding slow solar wind. This paper summarizes the properties of these structures and describes their geoeffectiveness. The primary focus is on the intense storms of solar cycle 23 because this is the first solar cycle during which simultaneous, extensive, and uniform data on solar, IP, and geospace phenomena exist. After presenting illustrative examples of coronal holes and CMEs, I discuss the internal structure of ICMEs, in particular the magnetic clouds (MCs). I then discuss how the magnetic field and speed correlate in the sheath and cloud portions of ICMEs. CME speed measured near the Sun also has significant correlations with the speed and magnetic field strengths measured at 1 AU. The dependence of storm intensity on MC, sheath, and CME properties is discussed pointing to the close connection between solar and IP phenomena. I compare the delay time between MC arrival at 1 AU and the peak time of storms for the cloud and sheath portions and show that the internal structure of MCs leads to the variations in the observed delay times. Finally, we examine the variation of solar-source latitudes of IP structures as a function of the solar cycle and find that they have to be very close to the disk center.     

特大地磁暴的一种行星际源:多重磁云

2001年3月31日观测到的大的多重磁云(Multi MC)事件造成了第23周太阳峰年(2000～2001)最大的地磁暴(Dst=-387nT). 通过分析ACE飞船的观测数据, 描述了这个多重磁云在1AU处的磁场和等离子体特征. 并且根据SOHO和GOES卫星的观测资料, 认证了它的太阳源. 在这次事件中, 由于多重磁云内部异常增强的南向磁场, 使之地磁效应变得更强, 它大大的延长了地磁暴的持续时间. 观测结果与理论分析表明, 多重磁云中子磁云的相互挤压使磁云内的磁场强度及其南向分量增强数倍, 从而加强了地磁效应. 因此, 研究认为多重磁云中子磁云之间的相互压缩是造成特大地磁暴的一种机制. 此外, 研究发现形成多重磁云的日冕物质抛射(CMEs)并不一定要来自同一太阳活动区.     

2003年10～11月的大磁暴

分析了引起2003年10～11月发生的3个特大磁暴的太阳活动、行星际扰动以及中国东部地磁台链记录到的地面磁场变化。结果表明,这3个特别大的磁暴是由太阳质量抛射事件引起的。太阳向着地球喷发出的大量等离子体引起的强烈太阳风扰动和持续长时间的南向行星际磁场与磁层相互作用形成了特别大的磁暴。ACE卫星、GOES卫星以及地面地磁台站较完整地记录了这3次日地扰动传输过程。对于每一个磁暴,中国东部地磁台链记录到的H分量变化形态一致,纬度最高的满洲里地磁台H幅度最大,而其他台站的幅度与纬度无明显关系,这表明磁暴的发展不完全由赤道环电流引起,在这样强烈的磁暴期间,磁层内的电流体系非常复杂。     

地球附近第23太阳活动周磁云和非磁云ICME的对比统计

行星际日冕物质抛射（ICME）,作为影响地球空间天气的重要源头之一,根据其磁场结构特点可分为磁云（MC）和非磁云ICME两个子集.本文对第23周的磁云和非磁云ICME结构及其地磁效应进行对比统计研究.第23周ICME事件总数为317个,其中磁云占ICME比例为33.75%,非磁云ICME占66.25%.统计结果表明,非磁云ICME数与太阳黑子数呈现出非常好的正相关性,而磁云与太阳黑子数的这种相关性并不明显.相反,磁云占ICME的比率与太阳黑子数呈现出一定的反相关性.对磁云与非磁云ICME引起的地磁暴的比较研究表明：磁云及其鞘区引发的地磁暴平均水平要高于非磁云ICME及其鞘区.磁云和非磁云ICME的磁场强度、南向磁场强度和传播速度整体上都随地磁暴水平提升而增加.对磁云与非磁云ICME参数的进一步对比分析表明,磁云及其鞘区的平均磁场强度和南向磁场分量平均值都明显要比非磁云ICME的大;而二者的等离子体温度、密度和速度平均值相差并不明显.     

Precipitation of energetic magnetospheric electrons and accompanying solar wind characteristics

From 1957 up to the present time, the Lebedev Physical Institute (LPI) has performed regular monitoring of ionizing radiation in the Earth’s atmosphere. There are cases when the X-ray radiation generated by energetic magnetospheric electrons penetrates the atmosphere and is observed at polar latitudes. The vast majority of these events occurs against the background of high-velocity solar wind streams, while magnetospheric perturbations related to interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) are noneffective for precipitation. It is shown in the paper that ICMEs do not cause acceleration of a sufficient amount of electrons in the magnetosphere. Favorable conditions for acceleration and subsequent scattering of electrons into the loss cone are created by magnetic storms with an extended recovery phase and with sufficiently frequent periods of negative Bz component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). Such geomagnetic perturbations are typical for storms associated with high-velocity solar wind streams.     

Geomagnetic storm intensity forecast caused by magnetic clouds of solar wind

Method of short-term forecast intensity of geomagnetic storms, expected by effect Solar wind magnetic clouds in the Earth’s magnetosphere is developed. The method is based calculation of the magnetic field clouds distribution, suitable to the Earth, the initial satellite measurements therein components of the interplanetary magnetic field in the solar ecliptic coordinate system. Conclusion about the magnetic storm intensity is expected on the basis of analysis of the dynamics of the reduced magnetic field Bz component clouds and established communication intensity of geomagnetic storms on Dst-index values and Bz component of the interplanetary magnetic field vector.     

第23太阳活动周期太阳风参数及地磁指数的统计分析

日冕物质抛射(Coronal Mass Ejection,简称CME)和共转相互作用区(Corotating Interaction Region,简称CIR)是造成日地空间行星际扰动和地磁扰动的两个主要原因,提供了地球磁暴的主要驱动力,进而显著影响地球空间环境.为深入研究太阳风活动及受其主导影响的地磁活动的时间分布特征,本文对大量太阳风参数及地磁活动指数的数据进行了详细分析.首先,采用由NASA OMNIWeb提供的太阳风参数及地磁活动指数的公开数据,通过自主编写matlab程序对第23太阳活动周期(1996-01-01—2008-12-31)的数据包括行星际磁场Bz分量、太阳风速度、太阳风质子密度、太阳风动压等重要太阳风参数及Dst指数、AE指数、Kp指数等主要的地磁指数进行统计分析,建立了包括269个CME事件和456个CIR事件列表的数据库.采用事例分析法和时间序列叠加法分别对两类太阳活动的四个重要太阳风参数(IMF Bz、太阳风速度、太阳风质子密度、太阳风动压)和三个主要地磁指数(Dst、AE、Kp)进行统计分析,并研究了其统计特征.其次,根据Dst指数最小值确定了第23太阳活动周期内的355个孤立地磁暴事件,并以Dst指数最小值为标准将这些磁暴进一步分类为145个弱磁暴、123个中等磁暴、70个强磁暴、12个剧烈磁暴和5个巨大磁暴.最后,采用时间序列叠加法对不同强度磁暴的太阳风参数和地磁指数进行统计分析.统计分析表明,对于CME事件,Nsw/Pdyn(Nsw表示太阳风质子密度,Pdyn表示太阳风动压)线性拟合斜率一般为正;对于CIR事件,Nsw/Pdyn线性拟合斜率一般为负,这可作为辨别CME和CIR事件的一种有效方法.从平均意义上讲,相较于CIR事件,CME事件有更大的南向IMF Bz分量、太阳风动压Pdyn、AE指数、Kp指数以及更小的Dstmin.一般情况下,CME事件有更大的可能性驱动极强地磁暴.总体而言,对于不同强度的地磁暴,Dst指数的变化呈现出一定的相似性,但随着地磁暴强度的增强,Dst指数衰减的速度变快.CME和CIR事件以及其各自驱动的地磁暴事件有着很多不同,因此,需要将CME事件驱动的磁暴及CIR事件驱动的磁暴分开研究.建立CME、CIR事件及地磁暴的数据库以及获取的统计分析结果,将为深入研究地球磁层等离子体片、辐射带及环电流对太阳活动的响应特征提供有利的帮助.     

中低纬地区电离层对CIR和CME响应的统计分析

本文利用中低纬日本地区(131°E,35°N)GPS-TEC格点化数据,分析了2001—2009年间109个共转相互作用区(CIR)事件、45个日冕物质抛射(CME)事件引起的地磁扰动期间电离层的响应.结果表明,电离层暴的类型随太阳活动的变化而有不同的变化,CIR事件引发的电离层正相暴、正负双相暴多发生在太阳活动下降年,负相暴多发生在高年,负正双相暴多发生在低年;CME事件引发的电离层正相暴和负相暴多发生在高年.CIR和CME引发的不同类型的电离层暴的季节性差异不大,在夏季多发生正负双相暴.电离层暴发生时间相对地磁暴的时延大部分在-6~6h之间,但CIR引发的电离层暴时延范围更广,在-12~24h之间,而CME引发的电离层暴时延主要在-6~6h之间.中低纬的电离层暴多发生在主相阶段,其中CIR引发的双相暴也会发生在初相阶段.电离层负暴多发生在AE最大值为800~1200nT之间.CIR引起的电离层扰动持续时间较长,一般在1~6天左右,而CME引起的电离层扰动持续时间一般在1~4天左右.     

Interplanetary origins of November 2004 superstorms

The sun was very active in the declining phase of solar cycle 23. Large sunspot active regions gave origin to multiple flare and coronal mass ejection (CME) activity in the interval 2003–2005. On November 2004, the active region AR 10696 was the origin of dozens of flares and many CMEs. Some events of this solar activity region resulted in two large geomagnetic storms, or superstorms (Dst??250 nT) on November 8, peak Dst=?373 nT, and on November 10, peak Dst=?289 nT. It is the purpose of this article to identify the interplanetary origins of these two superstorms. The southward-directed interplanetary magnetic fields (IMF Bs) that caused the two superstorms were related to a magnetic cloud (MC) field for the first superstorm, and a combination of sheath and MC fields for the second superstorm. However, this simple, classic picture is complicated by the presence of multiple shocks and waves. Six fast-forward shocks and, at least, two reverse waves were observed in the period of the two superstorms. A detailed analysis of these complex interplanetary features is performed in this work.     

磁暴主相多阶发展行星际起因的初步分析

本文利用1998～2006年与磁云有关的80起中强磁暴(Dst*≤-50 nT),对其主相期间不同发展阶数磁暴的行星际起因进行了统计分析.重点研究了鞘区磁场单独作用、磁云本体单独作用、鞘区与磁云共同作用以及其他复杂行星际结构在磁暴主相多阶发展中的相对重要性,并对导致磁暴主相增加一阶的行星际起因做了初步分析.统计结果表明...     

Long-term variations of geomagnetic activity and their solar sources

Geomagnetic activity in each phase of the solar cycle consists of 3 parts: (1) a “floor” below which the geomagnetic activity cannot fall even in the absence of sunspots, related to moderate graduate commencement storms; (2) sunspot-related activity due to sudden commencement storms caused by coronal mass ejections; (3) graduate commencement storms due to high speed solar wind from solar coronal holes. We find that the changes in the “floor” depend on the global magnetic moment of the Sun, and on the other side, from the height of the “floor” we can judge about the amplitude of the sunspot cycle.     

Sporadic and recurrent geomagnetic disturbances in 1859–1860 according to the archived data from the Russian network of stations

Based on an analysis of the available archived data from the Russian network of geomagnetic stations, it has been indicated that the known event of August–September 1859 was the first and the greatest event in the series of the recurrent geomagnetic storms. Similar series were repeatedly observed in the next years. These series are caused by the processes on the Sun and in the heliosphere related to the superposition of the solar wind flows. The sporadic and regular components in joint activity of the complex, including active regions and coronal holes on the rotating Sun, play the role of the Bartels M regions responsible for initiation and development of geomagnetic storms. Neither coronal holes nor active regions can separately explain observations. During interpretation, active regions and coronal holes should be considered as a unified complex.     

宇宙线小波分析在大地磁暴预报中的应用

利用Morlet小波变换方法对北京宇宙线台站的地面宇宙线强度在地磁暴前后的变化特征进行分析,得到:1)在平静期,北京宇宙线数据存在准24h周期性的特征,且通过分析周期为12h的Morlet小波"模",发现值稳定,且小于0.6;2)以90天为时间窗口,对2004年7月地磁暴前后的小波频谱变化进行详细分析,发现当发生大地磁暴时,宇宙线的静日准24h周期被打破,其他周期的波动开始增强.进一步研究发现,周期12h的波动在大地磁暴数小时到1天左右会出现显著增强,这一现象在2001、2002和2004年期间的大地磁暴前得到验证.3)Morlet小波"模"数据的急速增大是发生地磁暴的先兆特征,当小波模变化达到一定的阈值就可能发生大磁暴.本文分析了周期为12h时小波的模数据,对强地磁暴事件进行统计,选定阈值0.6,并通过2003年的6次大地磁暴进行预报验证,结果表明该方法不仅能够对大地磁暴事件进行预报,而且提前量满足预报需求,为基于宇宙线实测数据预报地磁暴方法提供了重要基础.     

Geoefficiency of solar eruptive events

The sources of geomagnetic disturbances during 1999–2003 are discussed. The relation between geomagnetic activity and the rate of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), their parameters, and the dynamics of solar photospheric magnetic fields is considered. It is shown that during the reorganization of unipolar regions of the photospheric magnetic field, the number of CMEs increases and their parameters change. The geomagnetic disturbance level also increases in these periods.     

基于Weimer模型的高纬地磁扰动预测

地磁扰动是空间天气中的重要现象,对地基技术系统具有重要的影响.准确预报地磁扰动可以有效避免重大灾害发生.本文基于Weimer电势和磁势模型发展了高纬地区地磁扰动的模拟方法,并与地面台站观测数据进行了比较.地表磁场扰动主要受电离层电流系统的影响,利用Weimer模式计算出电离层等效电流分布后,基于毕奥-萨伐尔定律推导了地磁扰动三分量与电流的关系,最终计算出地磁扰动量.模型的输入参数为太阳风速度、太阳风密度、行星际磁场和磁偶极倾角.模型计算结果与不同纬度和经度的地磁台站观测结果对比表明本文的计算方法能有效地模拟地磁暴期间地磁扰动特征.本文结果对今后发展高纬地区地磁场预报模型奠定了重要基础.