NSF Award
1260321
This three-year SHINE project aims to explore the origin and evolution of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) by determining the basic anatomical correspondence between transient structure observed in-situ and the source structures that give rise to CMEs in the solar corona. Following data analysis, the project team will study the onset of CMEs and their evolution through the heliosphere out to 1 AU and beyond, where the team will analyze the CME components in detail with in-situ spacecraft. The PI and Co-I will use two models to reconstruct the CME: simple (TH) and sophisticated (ENLIL). The project will also involve processing and analyzing data from the STEREO, SDO, SOHO, ACE, and Wind missions. Recent breakthroughs in STEREO data processing by the project team have enabled the measurement of solar wind transient structures (e.g., CMEs) in unprecedented detail. During this project, the team will perform case studies of CME events using the latest datasets, and a statistical analysis of older datasets. The broader impacts of the work are twofold: (1) education and training of students via international collaborations and an existing REU program; and (2) publication of data products on online databases, publication of project results in scientific and technical journals, and scientific presentations at conferences and workshops. The research agenda of this project supports the Strategic Goals of the AGS Division in discovery, learning, diversity, and interdisciplinary research.
