SHINE: Understanding Characteristics of Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs)

该项目的目标是通过扩展先前的一个题为“2002年至2004年日冕物质抛射起源研究”的SHINE项目，加强对日冕物质抛射的理解。在之前的项目中，其中一个发现是CME加速可以变化三个数量级，而加速持续时间也可以在相同的动态范围内变化，从几分钟到20多个小时。在这个项目中，PI计划进一步研究CME的特征，其基础是太阳和日光层天文台-极紫外成像望远镜（SOHO EIT），大角度和光谱日冕实验（LASCO），地面Mauna Loa日冕仪和许多其他相关的太阳盘观测的扩展观测。主要任务有五个：（1）对1996 - 2007年观测到的数千次CME事件进行明确的耀斑关联，并对CME与耀斑的关联进行全面的研究。(2)利用耀斑上升时间作为日冕物质抛射加速时间的替代，计算日冕物质抛射内的真实加速度。(This有关日冕物质抛射加速的统计信息将为日冕物质抛射速度和大小的现有统计增加一个重要的方面。(3)通过CME参数与耀斑参数的综合相关性研究，对CME特征进行分类。(4)通过对一组具有不同特征并已被各种太阳仪器观测到的事件进行比较研究，确定CME的运动学特性。（这里的问题包括为什么一些CME是非常冲动的，而另一些是非常渐进的，为什么一些CME特别快，为什么一些耀斑是爆发性的，为什么其他的是封闭的。(5)研究可能决定日冕物质抛射内在大小的因素。该项目直接解决了SHINE计划的主要目标之一，即了解日冕物质抛射的太阳性质和相关现象，包括其最终起源，前兆和近太阳演化。该项目将产生广泛的重大影响，特别是在研究与教育相结合方面，因为乔治梅森大学（GMU）最近启动了一个空间气象科学学术培训方案。该项目将支持GMU的全日制研究生。

The objective of this project is to enhance understanding of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) by extending a prior SHINE project, entitled "A Study on Origins of Coronal Mass Ejections from 2002 to 2004." In the prior project, one of the findings was that CME acceleration can vary by three orders of magnitude, while the acceleration duration can also vary over the same broad dynamic range, from several minutes to more than 20 hours. In this project, the PI plans to further study CME characteristics based on extended observations from the SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory - Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SOHO EIT), Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph Experiment (LASCO), ground-based Mauna Loa coronagraphs, and many other relevant solar disk observations. There are five major tasks:(1) To make unambiguous association with flares for thousands of CME events observed from 1996 to 2007, and make a comprehensive association study between CMEs and flares. (2) To calculate true CME acceleration in the inner corona using the flare rise time as a proxy for CME acceleration time. (This statistical information about CME acceleration will add one important dimension to the existing statistics of CME velocity and size.)(3) To classify CME characteristics through comprehensive correlation studies among CME parameters and flare parameters. (4) To identify CME kinematic properties through comparative study of a group of events that have distinct characteristics and have been well observed by a variety of solar instruments. (Issues here include why some CMEs are extremely impulsive while others are extremely gradual, why some CMEs are particularly fast, and why some flares are eruptive and why others are confined.) (5) To study the possible factors that may determine the intrinsic size of a CME.This project directly addresses one of the major objectives of SHINE program, namely, to understand solar properties of CMEs and related phenomena, including their ultimate origin, precursors, and near-Sun evolution. This project will have significant broader impact, especially in integration of research with education, since George Mason University (GMU) has recently started an academic training program in space weather science. This project will support a full time graduate student at GMU.