CAREER: Toward Improved Understanding of Solar Eruptive Events

这个为期五年的CAREER项目旨在更好地了解驱动太阳爆发的能量储存和释放的物理过程，从而影响太空天气。确定太阳爆发期间太阳能量积累和释放的细节是太阳-日球层物理学中最重要的问题之一；它解决了2013-2022年太阳空间物理十年调查的四个科学目标中的两个，即“确定太阳活动的起源并预测空间环境的变化”，以及“发现和描述发生在日光层和宇宙中的基本过程”。研究调查将结合日冕全球演化模型（CGEM）最近开发的数值模拟框架，以及由美国国家科学基金会资助的Daniel K. Inoue太阳望远镜（DKIST）进行的前所未有的高质量观测。CGEM是最先进的数据驱动（DD）方法之一，它将观测结果实现到模拟中。计划于2020年投入使用的DKIST将成为世界上最大的太阳望远镜。CAREER项目将利用新的DKIST观测和最近开发的模拟框架之间的协同作用，使人们对太阳爆发的理解达到一个新的水平。PI具有独特的科学专业知识和领导地位，使该项目取得了成功：她是DKIST科学工作组的成员，CGEM项目的Co-I，并在活跃区域磁场方面进行了广泛的研究。该项目将资助本科生，两名博士生和一名博士后，并支持PI的使命，建立一个强大的太阳能研究计划，促进NSO的研究和科罗拉多大学博尔德分校的教育之间的联系，为DKIST做准备。这项为期五年的CAREER项目旨在实现以下科学目标：(1)对几个观测到的、不断演变的耀斑迷你活动区域（日冕亮点，CBP）和一个活动区域（AR）进行DD数值模拟；(2)利用多波长观测验证这些模拟；(3)量化耀斑前后日冕磁能、电流密度和螺旋度的时空分布等关键AR和CBP特性。该项目将利用PI现有的努力来创建一个最真实的，观测驱动的耀斑ARs模拟，允许将可观测到的光球场演变与未观测到的日冕场演变联系起来，从而更深入地了解太阳爆发及其潜在的触发机制。PI的长期职业教育目标是增加太阳物理学和STEM领域的多样性。在这个CAREER项目中，多样性目标将通过三个互补的努力来推进，即：(1)PI将通过招募一批双语本科生和开发新的西班牙语太阳物理学/天文学模块来扩展非常成功的CU-STARs（科罗拉多大学科学、技术和天文学招募）外展项目；这些活动将被整合到科罗拉多州不同地区的高中中，那里的西班牙裔人口高达50-90%；(2) PI将牵头组织南德克萨斯州的K-12学生和科罗拉多大学博尔德分校的本科生在智利和美国（德克萨斯州）的两次日全食和一次日环食期间了解并开展外展活动；(3) PI将指导学生和博士后进行太阳能研究，并让他们参与上述活动。该CAREER项目的研究和EPO议程支持AGS部门在发现、学习、多样性和跨学科研究方面的战略目标。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This five-year CAREER project aims to better understand the physical processes of energy storage and release that drive solar eruptions, and hence affect the space weather. Determining the details of the energy accumulation and release on the Sun during solar eruptions is one of the most important problems in solar-heliospheric physics; it addresses two out of four science goals from the 2013-2022 Solar & Space Physics Decadal Survey, namely "determine the origins of the Sun's activity and predict the variations in the space environment," and "discover and characterize fundamental processes that occur within the heliosphere and the Universe." The research investigations will combine recently developed numerical simulations framework from the Coronal Global Evolutionary Model (CGEM) with unprecedented quality observations of the NSF-funded Daniel K. Inoue Solar Telescope (DKIST). The CGEM is one of the most advanced data-driven (DD) methods that implements observations into simulations. The DKIST, scheduled to start operating in 2020, will become the largest solar telescope in the world. The CAREER project will allow to reach a new level of understanding of solar eruptions using a synergy between novel DKIST observations and recently developed simulations framework. The PI has unique science expertise and a leadership position to make this project successful: she is a member of the DKIST Science Working Group, a Co-I of the CGEM project, and has worked extensively on active regions magnetic fields. The project will fund undergraduate students, two PhD students and one postdoctoral fellow, and support the PI's mission to establish a strong solar research program, fostering connection between research at NSO and education at CU Boulder in preparation for DKIST.This five-year CAREER project aims to accomplish the following science goals: (1) conduct DD numerical simulations of several observed, evolving flaring mini active regions (coronal bright points, CBP) and an active region (AR); (2) validate these simulations using multi-wavelength observations; and, (3) quantify key AR and CBP properties, including spatial and temporal distribution of coronal magnetic energy, current density and helicity before and after the flare. The project will leverage the PI's existing effort to create one of the most realistic, observationally-driven simulations of the flaring ARs, allowing to relate the observable photospheric field evolution to the evolution of unobserved coronal field and leading to a deeper understanding of solar eruptions and potentially their trigger mechanism. The PI's long-term career educational goal is to increase diversity in heliophysics and STEM in general. In this CAREER project, diversity goals will be advanced by three complementary efforts, namely: (1) the PI will expand highly-successful CU-STARs (University of Colorado Science, Technology and Astronomy Recruits) outreach program by recruiting a group of bilingual undergraduate students and developing new heliophysics/astronomy modules in Spanish for CU-STARs outreach activities; these activities will be integrated into high schools in different parts of Colorado, where the Hispanic population reaches up to 50-90%; (2) the PI will lead an effort to bring a group of K-12 students from South Texas and undergraduate students from University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) to learn about and conduct outreach activities during two total and one annular solar eclipses in Chile and the US (Texas); (3) The PI will mentor students and postdoctoral fellows in solar research and involve them in the above activities. The research and EPO agenda of this CAREER project supports the Strategic Goals of the AGS Division in discovery, learning, diversity, and interdisciplinary research.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.