SHINE: Characterizing the Coronal Origins of Slow Solar Wind using Heavy Ion Composition and Spectroscopic Observations

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As the most dominant component of the solar wind that engulfs the Earth on the ecliptic plane at 1 AU, the Slow-speed Solar Wind (SSW) plays a substantial role in shaping and determining the Geospace environment and the Earth's upper atmosphere where most of the man-made satellites are located. However, despite all the efforts devoted to investigating the SSW, two fundamental questions about this type of wind remain unanswered: (1) where does the SSW originate in the corona; and, (2) how do the coronal plasma properties determine the in-situ heavy ion composition of the SSW? This 3-year SHINE project is aimed at characterizing the coronal origins of the SSW in order to answer these two important science questions. The project team will study the SSW, utilizing two completely different techniques: in-situ measurements of local wind plasma properties, and remote-sensing spectral or imaging observations. When combined together, these two techniques can become a formidable tool that allows the investigators to fully exploit their potential to study the origin of the SSW. This project will benefit the solar research community and serve important educational functions. By using two completely different measurement techniques, this project will serve as a bridge between two different solar physics communities that have been working in parallel with limited interaction: the in-situ community and the remote sensing community, and will thus stimulate a new wave of cross collaborations. The research will be carried out at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where it will support undergraduate education through the University's UROP program and graduate education through collaboration with the graduate students in our department. The project will also support a young female postdoc, thus helping her establish a career as a woman in STEM disciplines. The research and EPO agenda of this project supports the Strategic Goals of the AGS Division in discovery, learning, diversity, and interdisciplinary research.This 3-year SHINE project is aimed at characterizing the origin of the solar wind. In order to achieve this goal, the project team will utilize in-situ measurements from ACE/SWICS and SWEPAM, Ulysses/SWICS, SWOOPS and Wind/SWE and combine the analysis with remote-sensing data from SOHO/MDI, SDO/HMI and Hinode/SOT. The in-situ solar wind observations will be classified based on their coronal origin types rather then their in-situ properties. Back-tracking methods will be used to identify the corresponding source regions on the Sun. The physical properties of the solar wind source regions will be determined using spectral line intensities. This research project is directly relevant to the NSF's SHINE program, because it will provide important knowledge about the origin of the solar wind. Such knowledge is critical for accurate modeling and prediction of the space weather conditions from the solar surface to the Earth and beyond.