The Origins and Implications of Solar Flare and CME-Related Magnetic Field Changes

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The Principal Investigator (PI) and her team will study the causes and consequences of flare-associated magnetic changes (FAMCs) on the Sun by using a combination of modeling and data analysis. The team will analyze the output of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) to investigate how magnetic restructuring in the modeled solar corona affects the magnetic field at the base of the simulation domain. In order to better understand the heliospheric consequences of FAMCs, the PI and her team will investigate correlations of observed FAMCs with the speeds, masses, and momenta of observed CMEs, as well as any correlations of the properties of FAMCs and CMEs in their simulations. To investigate how effectively FAMCs can drive "sunquakes," the team will use different parameterizations derived from satellite observations and their simulations, in order to initialize MHD models of the convecting solar interior and to characterize the Sun's acoustic response to realistic sunquake impulses. The PI expects that this study of solar magnetic eruptions will help develop the necessary understanding and tools to improve our prediction capability for the strong space weather events that can adversely affect our technology-based society. She will deliver her team's new data sets to the research community, including her observational analysis and MHD simulation data, through her institute's web site. The PI notes that community accessibility to this project's data and modeling results will provide scientists and students additional tools to perform space weather research. Meanwhile, the PI's team will promote teaching, training, and learning while advancing discovery and scientific understanding by serving students at the University of California at Berkeley. The PI's team has experience supervising student researchers, and they plan to attract and recruit highly qualified undergraduate and graduate students from the Physics, Astronomy, and Planetary Science Departments at Berkeley, while enhancing infrastructure for research and education.