Dynamic and Thermal Disappearance of Prominences and Their Geoeffectiveness

This paper is a qualitative study of 42 events of solar filament/prominence sudden disappearances (“disparitions brusques”; henceforth DBs) around two solar minima, 1985 – 1986 and 1994. The studied events were classified as 17 thermal and 25 dynamic disappearances. Associated events, i.e. coronal mass ejections (CMEs), type II bursts, evolution of nearby coronal holes, as well as solar wind speed, and geomagnetic disturbances are discussed. We have found that about 50% of the thermal DBs with adjacent (within 15° from the DB) coronal holes were associated with CMEs within a selected time window. All the studied thermal disappearances with adjacent coronal holes or accompanied by dynamic disappearances were associated with weak and medium geomagnetic storms. Also, nearly 64% of dynamic DBs were associated with CMEs. Ten (40%) dynamic disappearances were associated with intense geomagnetic storms, even when no CMEs was reported, six (24%) dynamic disappearances corresponded to extreme storms, and five (20%) corresponded to medium geomagnetic storms. The extreme geomagnetic storms appeared to be related to combined events, involving dynamic disappearances with adjacent coronal holes or including thermal disappearances. Furthermore, the geomagnetic activity (Dst index) increased if the source was close to the central meridian (±30°). The highest interplanetary magnetic field (B), longest duration, lowest southward direction B _z component, and lowest Dst were highly correlated for all studied events. The Sun – Earth transit time computed from the starting time of the sudden disappearance and the time its effect was measured at Earth was about 4.3 days and was mainly well correlated with the solar wind speed measured in situ (daily value).     

Numerical simulations of high-speed solar wind streams within 1 AU and their signatures at 1 AU

A parametric study of the evolution within, and signatures at, 1 AU of high-speed streams is performed with the use of a MHD, 21/2-D, time-dependent model. This study is an extension of an earlier one by Smith and Dryer (1990) who examined the ecliptic plane consequences of relatively short-duration, energetic solar disturbances. The present study examines both the erupting and corotating parts of long-duration, high-speed streams characteristic of coronal hole flows. By examining the variation of the simulated plasma velocity, density, temperature, and magnetic field at 1 AU, as well as the location of the solar coronal hole sources relative to the observer at 1 AU, we are able to provide some insight into the identification of the solar sources of interplanetary disturbances. We present and discuss two definitions for angle locating the solar source of interplanetary disturbances at 1 AU.We apply our results to the suggestion by Hewish (1988) that low-latitude coronal holes are suitably positioned to be the sources of major geomagnetic storms when the holes are in the eastern half of the solar hemisphere at the time of the commencement of the storm. Our results indicate that, for these cases, the streams emanating from within the hole must be very fast, greater than 1000 km s^–1, or very wide, greater than 60°, at the inner boundary of 18 solar radii in our simulation.     

Analysis of the Properties of Super Solar Proton Events and Associated Phenomena

The solar flares, the speeds of shocks propagated in the solar-terrestrial space and driven by coronal mass ejections (CMEs), the heliographic longitudes and Carrington longitudes of source regions, and the geomagnetic storms, which are accompanied by the super solar proton events with a peak ?ux equal to or exceeding 10 000 pfu, have been studied by using the data of ground-based and space observations. The results show that the heliographic longitudes of source regions of super solar proton events distributed in the range from E30? to W75°. The Carrington longitudes of source regions of super solar proton events distributed in the two longitudinal belts, 130°∼220° and 260°∼320°, respectively. All super solar proton events were accompanied by major solar flares and fast CMEs. The averaged speeds of shocks propagated from the sun to the Earth were greater than 1 200 km/s. Eight super solar proton events were followed by major geomagnetic storms (Dst≤−100 nT), except that one super solar proton event was followed by a geomagnetic storm with the geomagnetic activity index Dst=−96 nT, a little smaller than that of major geomagnetic storms.     

太阳活动22周以来的冕洞和地磁指数

本文对２２太阳活动用以来的中低纬冕洞和地磁指数Ａｐ进行了统计。对以月、季、年及２２周以来不同时段冕洞和地磁指数（Ｐｌａｎｅｔａｒｙ的Ａ指教）的时段合成图进行了分析。     

Intense Geomagnetic Storms Associated with Coronal Holes Under the Weak Solar-Wind Conditions of Cycle 24

The activity of Solar Cycle 24 has been extraordinarily low. The yearly averaged solar-wind speed is also lower in Cycle 24 than in Cycles 22 and 23. The yearly averaged speed in the rising phase of Cycle 21 is as low as that of Cycle 24, although the solar activity of Cycle 21 is higher than that of Cycle 24. The relationship between the solar-wind temperature and its speed is preserved under the solar-wind conditions of Cycle 24. Previous studies have shown that only a few percent of intense geomagnetic storms (minimum \(\mathrm{Dst} < -100\) nT) were caused by high-speed solar-wind flows from coronal holes. We identify two geomagnetic storms associated with coronal holes within the 19 intense geomagnetic storms that took place in Cycle 24.     

Coronal magnetic structures associated with interplanetary clouds

Among all the signatures of solar ejecta in interplanetary space, magnetic clouds are particularly interesting. We have shown that they are associated with solar mass ejections that involve not only coronal heights, but also chromospheric heights and so, they are almost always associated with low-altitude solar activity such as H flares or filament eruptions. As a magnetic cloud is a very large structure, and not all the ejecta found in the interplanetary medium are clouds, it is interesting to investigate the characteristics of the large-scale coronal magnetic structures in the regions where the activity leading to a cloud takes place. In this paper we use Hoeksema's potential field model of the solar magnetosphere to obtain the magnetic structure of the site of the solar events associated with 35 interplanetary magnetic clouds. The position of the related solar activity was determined from the location of the near-surface solar explosive events (flares and filament eruptions) associated with each cloud, obtained in our previous study. We find that the solar activity associated with interplanetary magnetic clouds occurs in regions of low-altitude, magnetically closed structures lying between higher helmets, or between the highest helmets and coronal holes, where the magnetic field lines are longitudinally oriented.     

日冕磁场重建方法在研究太阳爆发活动中的应用

太阳是与地球关系最为密切的天体.发生在日面上的剧烈爆发性活动可能对人类的生存环境产生巨大影响甚至是灾难性后果.包含太阳耀斑、暗条爆发和日冕物质抛射在内的太阳爆发活动是同一物理过程的不同表现形式,其能量来源于爆发前储存在日冕中的磁场自由能.因此,了解日冕磁场的3维结构是理解太阳爆发的触发机制以及活动区的稳定性等现象的前提.由于观测技术限制,目前尚无法对日冕磁场进行常规观测,因此发展了多种利用可常规观测的光球磁场来重建日冕磁场的方法.主要评述近10 yr来各种日冕磁场重建方法在研究太阳爆发活动中的应用.     

冕洞的地磁效应

分析了２２太阳活动周（１９８６．１—１９９５．６；ＣＲ１７７１—ＣＲ１８９８）冕洞对地磁扰动的长期效应和短期效应。作为长期效应，赤道冕洞数和面积指数随太阳活动周的演化与同期的地磁Ａｐ指数的长期变化基本一致，二者在α＝０．０１的信度水平上密切相关，表明赤道冕洞不仅对低年的磁扰有贡献，而且对峰年期间地磁扰动的贡献也是不可忽视的。对冕洞的短期地磁效应的研究表明，不论哪种类型的冕洞，在它们过中经后的１—４天，地磁Ａｐ指数都有不同程度的增长；大冕洞比小冕洞引起的地磁效应较强烈；跨越赤道的冕洞比未跨越赤道的同级冕洞引起的地磁效应较强烈     

Statistical Analysis of the Relationships among Coronal Holes,Corotating Interaction Regions,and Geomagnetic Storms

We have examined the relationships among coronal holes (CHs), corotating interaction regions (CIRs), and geomagnetic storms in the period 1996?–?2003. We have identified 123 CIRs with forward and reverse shock or wave features in ACE and Wind data and have linked them to coronal holes shown in National Solar Observatory/Kitt Peak (NSO/KP) daily He i 10?830 Å maps considering the Sun?–?Earth transit time of the solar wind with the observed wind speed. A sample of 107 CH?–?CIR pairs is thus identified. We have examined the magnetic polarity, location, and area of the CHs as well as their association with geomagnetic storms (Dst≤?50 nT). For all pairs, the magnetic polarity of the CHs is found to be consistent with the sunward (or earthward) direction of the interplanetary magnetic fields (IMFs), which confirms the linkage between the CHs and the CIRs in the sample. Our statistical analysis shows that (1) the mean longitude of the center of CHs is about 8°E, (2) 74% of the CHs are located between 30°S and 30°N (i.e., mostly in the equatorial regions), (3) 46% of the CIRs are associated with geomagnetic storms, (4) the area of geoeffective coronal holes is found to be larger than 0.12% of the solar hemisphere area, and (5) the maximum convective electric field E _y in the solar wind is much more highly correlated with the Dst index than any other solar or interplanetary parameter. In addition, we found that there is also a semiannual variation of CIR-associated geomagnetic storms and discovered new tendencies as follows: For negative-polarity coronal holes, the percentage (59%; 16 out of 27 events) of CIRs associated with geomagnetic storms in the first half of the year is much larger than that (25%; 6 out of 24 events) in the second half of the year and the occurrence percentage (63%; 15 out of 24 events) of CIR-associated storms in the southern hemisphere is significantly larger than that (26%; 7 out of 27 events) in the northern hemisphere. Positive-polarity coronal holes exhibit an opposite tendency.     

Impact of CIR Storms on Thermosphere Density Variability during the Solar Minimum of 2008

The solar minimum of 2008 was exceptionally quiet, with sunspot numbers at their lowest in 75 years. During this unique solar-minimum epoch, however, solar-wind high-speed streams emanating from near-equatorial coronal holes occurred frequently and were the primary contributor to the recurrent geomagnetic activity at Earth. These conditions enabled the isolation of forcing by geomagnetic activity on the preconditioned solar minimum state of the upper atmosphere caused by Corotating Interaction Regions (CIRs). Thermosphere density observations around 400 km from the CHAMP satellite are used to study the thermosphere density response to solar-wind high-speed streams/CIRs. Superposed epoch results show that the thermosphere density responds to high-speed streams globally, and the density at 400 km changes by 75% on average. The relative changes of neutral density are comparable at different latitudes, although its variability is largest at high latitudes. In addition, the response of thermosphere density to high-speed streams is larger at night than in daytime, indicating the preconditioning effect of the thermosphere response to storms. Finally, the thermosphere density variations at the periods of 9 and 13.5 days associated with CIRs are linked to the spatial distribution of low?–?middle latitude coronal holes on the basis of the EUVI observations from STEREO.     

Long-lived coronal structures and recurrent geomagnetic patterns in 1974

Daily measurements of the intensity distribution of the Sun's white-light corona over the height range $\text{1.1–2.7. R}{}_{\mathrm{?}}$ show that the global structure became quite stable (constant over periods of several months) in late 1973 and throughout 1974, as flares, ascending prominences and other transient activity became less frequent with the decline of the solar activity cycle. A highly persistent pattern of geomagnetic activity prevailed for much of this time. Bright coronal structures in the ecliptic plane were associated with geomagnetically quiet conditions, and faint coronal regions (“holes”) with geomagnetic disturbance, after a delay of about three days. These results confirm the “cone-of-avoidance” model for M-regions and reinforce the postulate that high-speed streams in the solar wind originate from coronal holes. Identification of coronal holes from ground-based K-coronal observations corresponds well with those made from spacecraft EUV and X-ray experiments on OSO-7 and Skylab.     

PARTICLE ACCELERATION IN GEOSPACE AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH SOLAR EVENTS

Particle acceleration is a prominent feature of the geomagnetic storm, which is the prime dynamic process in Geospace – the near-Earth space environment. Magnetic storms have their origin in solar events, which are transient disturbances of the solar atmosphere and radiation that propagates as variations of the solar wind fields and particles through interplanetary space to the Earth's orbit. During magnetic storms, ions of both solar wind origin and terrestrial origin are accelerated and form an energetic ring current in the inner magnetosphere. This current has global geomagnetic effects, which have both physical and technical implications. Recently, it has been shown that large magnetic storms, which exhibit an unusually energized ionospheric plasma component, are closely associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs). This implies a cause/effect chain connecting solar events through CMEs and the solar wind with the acceleration of terrestrial ion populations which eventually constitute the main source of global geomagnetic disturbances. Here we present spacecraft observations related to storm-time particle acceleration and assess the observations within the framework of causes and effects of solar-terrestrial relationships.     

The 2015 Summer Solstice Storm: One of the Major Geomagnetic Storms of Solar Cycle 24 Observed at Ground Level

We report on the 22?–?23 June 2015 geomagnetic storm that occurred at the summer solstice. There have been fewer intense geomagnetic storms during the current solar cycle, Solar Cycle 24, than in the previous cycle. This situation changed after mid-June 2015, when one of the largest solar active regions (AR 12371) of Solar Cycle 24 that was located close to the central meridian, produced several coronal mass ejections (CMEs) associated with M-class flares. The impact of these CMEs on the Earth’s magnetosphere resulted in a moderate to severe G4-class geomagnetic storm on 22?–?23 June 2015 and a G2 (moderate) geomagnetic storm on 24 June. The G4 solstice storm was the second largest (so far) geomagnetic storm of Cycle 24. We highlight the ground-level observations made with the New-Tupi, Muonca, and the CARPET El Leoncito cosmic-ray detectors that are located within the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) region. These observations are studied in correlation with data obtained by space-borne detectors (ACE, GOES, SDO, and SOHO) and other ground-based experiments. The CME designations are taken from the Computer Aided CME Tracking (CACTus) automated catalog. As expected, Forbush decreases (FD) associated with the passing CMEs were recorded by these detectors. We note a peculiar feature linked to a severe geomagnetic storm event. The 21 June 2015 CME 0091 (CACTus CME catalog number) was likely associated with the 22 June summer solstice FD event. The angular width of CME 0091 was very narrow and measured \({\sim}\, 56^{\circ }\) degrees seen from Earth. In most cases, only CME halos and partial halos lead to severe geomagnetic storms. We perform a cross-check analysis of the FD events detected during the rise phase of Solar Cycle 24, the geomagnetic parameters, and the CACTus CME catalog. Our study suggests that narrow angular-width CMEs that erupt in a westward direction from the Sun–Earth line can lead to moderate and severe geomagnetic storms. We also report on the strong solar proton radiation storm that began on 21 June. We did not find a signal from this SEP at ground level. The details of these observations are presented.     

日冕物质抛射与共生射电爆发的地面和空间联测研究

引述了近年来太阳和空间物理的一大研究成果；产生日地空间射电爆发和地球物理响应的主因不是太阳耀斑，而是日冕物质抛射（CME），论述了射电爆发在研究CME中的作用；分析了1991-06-15CME事件中射电爆发和质子事件产生的物理过程；介绍了地面/空间对CME和共生射电爆发联测研究的新进展；提出了我国今后开展地面/空间联测研究的设想和建议。     

A seasonal dependence for the geoeffectiveness of eruptive solar events

The pronounced seasonal variation of the occurrence rate of great geomagnetic storms, attributed to in-ecliptic draping of interplanetary magnetic fields and the Russell-McPherron effect, suggests that the geoeffectiveness of the causative eruptive solar events has a seasonal dependence. Thus an eruptive solar event of a given size occurring near the equinoxes might be expected to give rise to a larger geomagnetic storm than would a comparable event occurring near the solstices. We present the following evidence for such a seasonal dependence: (1) the great problem storms of the last four solar cycles, i.e., severe storms lacking commensurate preceding solar activity, occurred relatively near the equinoxes, (2) the few great storms that occurred near the solstices were generally preceded by truly outstanding flares, and (3) on average, central meridian proton flares occurring near the equinoxes were followed by significantly larger geomagnetic storms than were similar flares occurring near the solstices. We conclude that the strong semi-annual variation of great storms results from the virtual absence, near the solstices, of great storms associated with disappearing solar filaments and with moderately-sized eruptive solar flares.     

Solar activity I: aspects of magnetic activity

It is now accepted that the solar activity has direct impact on the Earth climate, but is also responsible for the geomagnetic storms. It is thus fundamental to understand the mechanisms responsible for this activity. We present here first some aspects of the solar activity at the different atmospheric layers of the sun: active region at photospheric levels, filaments (prominences) and flares at chromospheric level and CME's at coronal level. A quick sum‐up of the principal characteristics of each is given as well as the key questions still under investigation. In the second part, two principal parameters are presented to describe these features: helicity and topology. Finally, we sum‐up the observational challenges for new solar telescopes.     

Solar and Heliospheric Causes of Geomagnetic Perturbations during the Growth Phase of Solar Cycle 23

A database is compiled for the study of solar and heliospheric causes of geomagnetic perturbations with the daily average index A > 20 that were observed in the period 1997–2000. The number of such events (more than 200) progressively increased and fluctuated as the current solar cycle developed. It is established that geomagnetic storms are generated by dynamical processes and structures near the center of the solar disk in a zone of several tens of degrees, and these processes are responsible for the appearance in the Earth's region, within several tens of hours, of quasistationary and transient solar wind streams with a sufficiently strong southward component of the heliospheric magnetic field. These streams lasted more than a few hours. The following structures can serve as morphological indicators for the prediction of the appearance of such streams: (1) active and disappearing filaments derived from synoptic -maps of the Sun, (2) solar flares, (3) coronal holes and evolving active regions, and (4) the heliospheric current sheet. The geometry of coronal mass ejections needs further observational study.     

Extreme ultraviolet observations of coronal holes

Extreme-ultraviolet Skylab and ground-based solar magnetic field data have been combined to study the origin and evolution of coronal holes. It is shown that holes exist only within the large-scale unipolar magnetic cells into which the solar surface is divided at any given time. A well-defined boundary zone usually exists between the edge of a hole and the neutral line which marks the edge of its magnetic cell. This boundary zone is the region across which a cell is connected by magnetic arcades with adjacent cells of opposite polarity. Three pieces of observational evidence are offered to support the hypothesis that the magnetic lines of force from a hole are open. Kitt Peak magnetograms are used to show that, at least on a relative scale, the average field strengths within holes are quite variable, but indistinguishable from the field strengths in other quiet parts of the Sun's surface.Finally it is shown that the large, equatorial holes characteristic of the declining phase of the last solar cycle during Skylab (1973–74) were all formed as a result of the mergence of bipolar magnetic regions (BMR's), confirming an earlier hypothesis by Timothy et al. (1975). Systematic application of this model to the different aspects of the solar cycle correctly predicts the occurrence of both large, equatorial coronal holes (the M-regions which cause recurrent geomagnetic storms) and the polar cap holes.     

Delay times between geoeffective solar disturbances and geomagnetic indices

We have examined delay times between solar disturbances (X-ray flares and DSFs) and storm sudden commencements(SSC) as well as between SSC and major geomagnetic storms. To carry out cross-correlation analysis of these point series data, we have introduced a new correlation measure which is defined by the ratio of the median value of the absolute residual differences between two sets of time series data to the one determined from hypothetical target series. We have confirmed from the correlation analyses that (1) the most probable traveling time of a solar disturbance from the Sun to the Earth is estimated to be about 2 days for a disturbance associated with major (X and M class) solar flares, and about 3 days for a disturbance associated with DSFs, (2) long-duration flares are better correlated with SSCs than short-duration flares, (3) travelling times of solar disturbances strongly depend on the heliolongitude where they originate, and (4) solar disturbances associated with flares and DSFs at the western limb can hardly reach the Earth. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.