Multiscale Edge Detection in the Corona

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are challenging objects to detect using automated techniques, due to their high velocity and diffuse, irregular morphology. A necessary step to automating the detection process is to first remove the subjectivity introduced by the observer used in the current, standard, CME detection and tracking method. Here we describe and demonstrate a multiscale edge detection technique that addresses this step and could serve as one part of an automated CME detection system. This method provides a way to objectively define a CME front with associated error estimates. These fronts can then be used to extract CME morphology and kinematics. We apply this technique to a CME observed on 18 April 2000 by the Large Angle Solar COronagraph experiment (LASCO) C2/C3 and a CME observed on 21 April 2002 by LASCO C2/C3 and the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE). For the two examples in this work, the heights determined by the standard manual method are larger than those determined with the multiscale method by ≈10% using LASCO data and ≈20% using TRACE data.     

冕流电流片的白光和紫外观测研究

日冕电流片是日冕磁重联发生的主要区域, 这一过程将磁能转化为等离子体的热能和动能. 通过选取大角度光谱日冕仪(Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph, LASCO)的白光与远紫外日冕成像光谱仪(Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer, UVCS)的紫外观测, 研究了2003年1月3日观测到的冕流电流片. LASCO C2白光数据显示电流片中的等离子体团在视场中可从60km·s^-1加速至340km·s^-1, 加速度为 60m·s^-2; 假设视向深度为0.3--1.5R_⊙, 得到所研究电流片在UVCS狭缝高度处的平均电子数密度约为(1.52--7.60)×10⁷cm^-3. 对沿UVCS视场狭缝分布的[Fe xviii ] 974 ? A和Lyα谱线强度进行研究, 发现电流片处的[Fe xviii ]谱线强度比周围明显增大, 计算得到所研究时段内电流片的电子温度范围为(2.94–4.04)×10⁶K; 而在电流片处的Lyα谱线强度相对周围变化不大, 在电流片内部两侧强度比中心略高, 可能的主要原因是电流片内部中心处等离子体的运动速度要比两侧快, 这使得中心比两侧有更强的多普勒暗化作用. 以UVCS观测的Lyα和[Fe xviii ]谱线的辐射强度比和计算的电子温度为约束条件, 发现当狭缝电流片处等离子体运动速度约为237–254 km·s ^?1 时, 通过理论计算的Lyα和[Fe xviii ]谱线的辐射发射率比值和观测谱线强度比值相当. 在该速度范围内, 电流片内部Lyα辐射的碰撞项约为辐射项的42%–57%. 此事件中的冕流电流片比通常情形下的冕流电流片中等离子体温度更高、运动速度更大, 可能的原因在于其南侧爆发的两个日冕物质抛射促进了电流片中的磁重联过程, 更多的磁能释放用于等离子体的加热和加速. 所得研究结果可以为我国将要发射的先进天基太阳天文台(Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory, ASO-S)未来的资料处理提供重要参考.     

On the error analyses of polarization measurements of the white-light coronagraph aboard ASO-S

The Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory(ASO-S) mission aims to explore the two most spectacular eruptions on the Sun: solar flares and coronal mass ejections(CMEs), and their magnetism.For the study of CMEs, the payload Lyman-alpha Solar Telescope(LST) has been proposed. It includes a traditional white-light coronagraph and a Lyman-alpha coronagraph which opens a new window to CME observations. Polarization measurements taken by white-light coronagraphs are crucial for deriving fundamental physical parameters of CMEs. To make such measurements, there are two options for a Stokes polarimeter which have been applied by existing white-light coronagraphs for space missions. One uses a single or triple linear polarizer, the other involves both a half-wave plate and a linear polarizer. We find that the former option is subject to less uncertainty in the derived Stokes vector propagating from detector noise.The latter option involves two plates which are prone to internal reflections and may have a reduced transmission factor. Therefore, the former option is adopted as our Stokes polarimeter scheme for LST. Based on the parameters of the intended linear polarizer(s) colorPol provided by CODIXX and the half-wave plate 2-APW-L2-012 C by Altechna, it is further shown that the imperfect maximum transmittance of the polarizer significantly increases the variance amplification of Stokes vector by at least about 50% when compared with the ideal case. The relative errors of Stokes vector caused by the imperfection of colorPol polarizer and the uncertainty due to the polarizer assembly in the telescope are estimated to be about 5%. Among the considered parameters, we find that the dominant error comes from the uncertainty in the maximum transmittance of the polarizer.     

The dynamics of velocity fluctuations in the solar wind – I. Coronal mass ejections

In this paper we present a simple, analytic model for the dynamical evolution of supersonic velocity fluctuations at the base of the ambient solar wind. These fluctuations result in the formation of dense working surfaces that travel down the wind. It is shown how the initial parameters of the fluctuations (velocity, density and duration) are related to the characteristics of the working surfaces far from the Sun (for instance at the Earth). We apply the model to the evolution of the coronal mass ejections in the IP medium, finding that the model is in good agreement with satellite observations of these phenomena, thus providing physical insight into their dynamical evolution. Our model may contribute to future 'space weather forecasting' on the Earth, based on detailed satellite monitoring of the solar corona.     

ASO-S卫星工程LST爆发模式触发和终止方案

先进天基太阳天文台(ASO-S)是计划于2021年底或2022年上半年发射的中国首颗综合性太阳探测卫星,莱曼阿尔法太阳望远镜(LST)作为ASO-S的有效载荷之一,具体包括莱曼阿尔法全日面成像仪(SDI)、日冕仪(SCI)以及白光望远镜(WST) 3台科学仪器和2台导行镜(GT),其主要目标是在多个波段对太阳上的两类剧烈爆发现象(太阳耀斑和日冕物质抛射)进行连续不间断的高分辨率观测.为了实现这一观测目标, LST所有仪器的观测模式中均包含了一种针对爆发事件而设置的爆发模式.该模式下, SCI将以更高的频率进行图像采集, SDI和WST则以更高的频率对爆发所在区域进行图像采集.测试结果表明,观测图像经过中值滤波、像元合并处理后,可以通过监测图像各像元亮度的相对变化提取爆发事件的时间和位置信息.这些信息将为LST观测模式间的相互切换提供重要电子学输入.     

Evolution of morphological features of CMEs deduced from catastrophe model of solar eruptions

We describe the evolution of morphological features of the magnetic configuration of CME according to the catastrophe model developed previously. For the parameters chosen for the present work, roughly half of the total mass is nominally contained in the initial flux rope, while the remaining plasma is brought by magnetic reconnection from the corona into the current sheet and from there into the CME bubble. The physical attributes of the difference in the observable features between CME bubble and flare loop system were studied. We tentatively identified distinguishable evolutionary features like the outer shell, the expanding bubble and the flux rope with the leading edge, void and core of the 3-component CME structure. The role of magnetic reconnection is discussed as a possible mechanism for the heating of the prominence material during eruptions. Several aspects of this explanation that need improvement are outlined.     

Speed Distributions of CMEs in Cycle 23 at Low and High Latitudes

We analyzed the speed (v) distributions of 11584 coronal mass ejections (CMEs) observed by the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph Experiment on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO/LASCO) in cycle 23 from 1996 to 2006. We find that the speed distributions for high-latitude (HL) and low-latitude (LL) CME events are nearly identical and to a good approximation they can be fitted with a lognormal distribution. This finding implies that statistically the same driving mechanism of a nonlinear nature is acting in both HL and LL CME events, and CMEs are intrinsically associated with the source's magnetic structure on large spatial scales. Statistically, the HL CMEs are slightly slower than the LL CMEs. For HL and LL CME events respectively, the speed distributions for accelerating and decelerating events are nearly identical and also to a good approximation they can be both fitted with a lognormal distribution, thus supplementing the results obtained by Yurchyshyn et al.     

A Parametric Survey of the CME Triggering Process by Numerical Simulations

Observations indicate that solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are closely associated with reconnection-favored flux emergence, which was explained in the emerging flux trigger mechanism for CMEs by Chen & Shibata based on numerical simulations. We present a parametric survey of the triggering agent: its polarity orientation, position, and the amount of the unsigned flux. The results suggest that whether a CME can be triggered depends on both the amount and location of the emerging flux, in addition to its polarity orientation. A diagram is presented to show the eruption and non-eruption regimes in the parameter space. The work is aimed at providing useful information for the space weather forecast.     

Numerical simulations of fast and slow coronal mass ejections

Solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) show a large variety in their kinematic properties. CMEs originating in active regions and accompanied by strong flares are usually faster and accelerated more impulsively than CMEs associated with filament eruptions outside active regions and weak flares. It has been proposed more than two decades ago that there are two separate types of CMEs, fast (impulsive) CMEs and slow (gradual) CMEs. However, this concept may not be valid, since the large data sets acquired in recent years do not show two distinct peaks in the CME velocity distribution and reveal that both fast and slow CMEs can be accompanied by both weak and strong flares. We present numerical simulations which confirm our earlier analytical result that a flux‐rope CME model permits describing fast and slow CMEs in a unified manner. We consider a force‐free coronal magnetic flux rope embedded in the potential field of model bipolar and quadrupolar active regions. The eruption is driven by the torus instability which occurs if the field overlying the flux rope decreases sufficiently rapidly with height. The acceleration profile depends on the steepness of this field decrease, corresponding to fast CMEs for rapid decrease, as is typical of active regions, and to slow CMEs for gentle decrease, as is typical of the quiet Sun. Complex (quadrupolar) active regions lead to the fastest CMEs. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Formation of Transient Coronal Holes during the Eruption of a Quiescent Filament and its Overlying Sigmoid

By using Hα, He I 10830, EUV and soft X-ray (SXR) data, we examined a filament eruption that occurred on a quiet-sun region near the center of the solar disk on 2006 January 12, which disturbed a sigmoid overlying the filament channel observed by the GOES-12 SXR Imager (SXI), and led to the eruption of the sigmoid. The event was associated with a partial halo coronal mass ejection (CME) observed by the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraphs (LASCO) on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), and resulted in the formation of two flare-like ribbons, post-eruption coronal loops, and two transient coronal holes (TCHs), but there were no significantly recorded GOES or Hα flares corresponding to the eruption. The two TCHs were dominated by opposite magnetic polarities and were located on the two ends of the eruptive sigmoid. They showed similar locations and shapes in He Ⅰ 10830, EUV and SXR observations. During the early eruption phase, brightenings first appeared on the locations of the two subsequent TCHs, which could be clearly identified on He Ⅰ 10830, EUV and SXR images. This eruption could be explained by the magnetic flux rope model, and the two TCHs were likely to be the feet of the flux rope.     

Transequatorial Filament Eruption and Its Link to a Coronal Mass Ejection

We revisit the Bastille Day flare/CME Event of 2000 July 14, and demonstrate that this flare/CME event is not related to only one single active region (AR). Activation and eruption of a huge transequatorial filament are seen to precede the simultaneous filament eruption and flare in the source active region, NOAA AR 9077, and the full halo-CME in the high corona. Evidence of reconfiguration of large-scale magnetic structures related to the event is illustrated by SOHO EIT and Yohkoh SXT observations, as well as, the reconstructed 3D magnetic lines of force based on the force-free assumption. We suggest that the AR filament in AR9077 was connected to the transequatorial filament. The large-scale magnetic composition related to the transequatorial filament and its sheared magnetic arcade appears to be an essential part of the CME parent magnetic structure. Estimations show that the filament-arcade system has enough magnetic helicity to account for the helicity carried by the related CMEs. In addition, rather global magnetic connectivity, covering almost all the visible range in longitude and a huge span in latitude on the Sun, is implied by the Nancay Radioheliograph (NRH) observations. The analysis of the Bastille Day event suggests that although the triggering of a global CME might take place in an AR, a much larger scale magnetic composition seems to be the source of the ejected magnetic flux, helicity and plasma. The Bastille Day event is the first described example in the literature, in which a transequatorial filament activity appears to play a key role in a global CME. Many tens of halo-CME are found to be associated with transequatorial filaments and their magnetic environment.     

A New Model for Propagating Parts of EIT Waves: A Current Shell in a CME

EIT waves are observed in EUV as bright fronts. Some of these bright fronts propagate across the solar disk. EIT waves are all associated with a flare and a CME and are commonly interpreted as fast-mode magnetosonic waves. Propagating EIT waves could also be the direct signature of the gradual opening of magnetic field lines during a CME. We quantitatively addressed this alternative interpretation. Using two independent 3D MHD codes, we performed nondimensional numerical simulations of a slowly rotating magnetic bipole, which progressively result in the formation of a twisted magnetic flux tube and its fast expansion, as during a CME. We analyse the origins, the development, and the observability in EUV of the narrow electric currents sheets that appear in the simulations. Both codes give similar results, which we confront with two well-known SOHO/EIT observations of propagating EIT waves (7 April and 12 May 1997), by scaling the vertical magnetic field components of the simulated bipole to the line of sight magnetic field observed by SOHO/MDI and the sign of helicity to the orientation of the soft X-ray sigmoids observed by Yohkoh/SXT. A large-scale and narrow current shell appears around the twisted flux tube in the dynamic phase of its expansion. This current shell is formed by the return currents of the system, which separate the twisted flux tube from the surrounding fields. It intensifies as the flux tube accelerates and it is co-spatial with weak plasma compression. The current density integrated over the altitude has the shape of an ellipse, which expands and rotates when viewed from above, reproducing the generic properties of propagating EIT waves. The timing, orientation, and location of bright and faint patches observed in the two EIT waves are remarkably well reproduced. We conjecture that propagating EIT waves are the observational signature of Joule heating in electric current shells, which separate expanding flux tubes from their surrounding fields during CMEs or plasma compression inside this current shell. We also conjecture that the bright edges of halo CMEs show the plasma compression in these current shells.     

Formation of the CME Leading Edge Observed in the 2003 February 18 Event

This work investigates a typical coronal mass ejection (CME) observed on 2003 February 18, by various space and ground instruments, in white light, Ha, EUV and X-ray. The Ha and EUV images indicate that the CME started with the eruption of a long filament located near the solar northwest limb. The white light coronal images show that the CME initiated with the rarefaction of a region above the solar limb and followed by the formation of a bright arcade at the boundary of the rarefying region at height 0.46 R(?) above the solar surface. The rarefying process synchronized with the slow rising phase of the eruptive filament, and the CME leading edge was observed to form as the latter started to accelerate. The lower part of the filament brightened in Ha as the filament rose to a certain height and parts of the filament was visible in the GOES X-ray images during the rise. These brightenings imply that the filament may be heated by the magnetic reconnection below the filament in the early stage of the eruption. We suggest that a possible mechanism which leads to the formation of the CME leading edge and cavity is the magnetic reconnection which takes place below the filament after the filament has reached a certain height.     

Relationship between CME dynamics and solar flare plasma

The relationship between the velocity of CMEs and the plasma temperature of the associated X-ray solar flares is investigated.The velocity of CMEs increases with plasma temperature(R=0.82)and photon index below the break energy(R=0.60)of X-ray flares.The heating of the coronal plasma appears to be significant with respect to the kinetics of a CME from the reconnection region where the flare also occurs.We propose that the initiation and velocity of CMEs perhaps depend upon the dominant process of conversion of the magnetic field energy of the active region to heating/accelerating the coronal plasma in the reconnected loops.Results show that a flare and the associated CME are two components of one energy release system,perhaps,magnetic field free energy.     

地磁感应电流行星际起因及其电网效应的初步分析

利用2004至2005年在广东岭澳监测到的地磁感应电流(Geomagneticily Induced Current,GIC)事件,分析了其对应的太阳驱动源和行星际太阳风结构,重点研究了GIC事件的行星际起因及效应,并利用小波变换对强GIC事件进行频谱分析.研究结果表明:(1)绝大多数GIC事件由全晕状日冕物质抛射(Coronal Mass Ejection,CME)主导驱动,其行星际起因则包含激波鞘层、磁云或多重行星际太阳风结构.(2)针对强GIC事件(2004-11-09)发现GIC事件强度前期的变化与磁云边界层相关,而后期的强度变化主要是磁云本身引起.(3)GIC在电力系统中相当于准直流,其能量体现在两个时间段,前期较弱属于脉冲类型,后期强度较大;关于GIC引起变压器温升的累积时间,相比GIC事件的前期,后期的累积时间更长,对电力系统以及设备的影响更为严重.(4)通过相关性分析,SYM-H指数和dBx/dt与GIC的相关性明显强于其它地磁指数与GIC的相关性.     

Relationship between CME velocities and X-ray fluxes of associated flares

Coronal mass ejection (CME) velocities have been studied over recent decades. We present a statistical analysis of the relationship between CME velocities and X-ray fluxes of the associated flares. We study two types of CMEs. One is the FL type associ- ated only with flares, while the other is the intermediate type associated with both filament eruptions and flares. It is found that the velocities of the FL type CMEs are strongly cor- related with both the peak and the time-integrated X-ray fluxes of the associated flares. However, the correlations between the intermediate type CME velocities and the corre- sponding two parameters are poor. It is also found that the correlation between the CME velocities and the peak X-ray fluxes is stronger than that between the CME velocities and the time-integrated X-ray fluxes of the associated flares.