Showing papers by "Säm Krucker published in 2004"

Intensity variation of large solar energetic particle events associated with coronal mass ejections

Abstract: [1] We studied the coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and flares associated with large solar energetic particle (SEP) events of solar cycle 23 (1996–2002) in order to determine what property of the solar eruptions might order the SEP intensity. The SEP events were divided into three groups: (1) events in which the primary CME was preceded by one or more wide CMEs from the same solar source, (2) events with no such preceding CMEs, and (3) events in which the primary CME might have interacted with a streamer or with a nearby halo CME. The SEP intensities are distinct for groups 1 and 2 although the CME properties were nearly identical. Group 3 was similar to group 1. The primary findings of this study are as follows: (1) Higher SEP intensity results whenever a CME is preceded by another wide CME from the same source region. (2) The average flare size was also larger for high-intensity SEP events. (3) The intensity of SEP events with preceding CMEs showed a tighter correlation with CME speed. The extent of scatter in the CME speed versus SEP intensity plots was reduced when various subgroups were considered separately. (4) The intensities of energetic electrons were better correlated with flare size than with CME speed. (5) The SEP intensity showed poor correlation with the flare size, except for group 3 events. Since only a third of the events did not have preceding CMEs, we conclude that the majority of SEP producing CMEs propagate through the near-Sun interplanetary medium severely disturbed and distorted by the preceding CMEs. Furthermore, the preceding CMEs are faster and wider on the average, so they may provide seed particles for CME-driven shocks that follow. Therefore we conclude that the differing intensities of SEP events in the two groups may not have resulted due to the inherent properties of the CMEs. The presence of preceding CMEs seems to be the discriminating characteristic of the high- and low-intensity SEP events.

Magnetic Field, Hα, and RHESSI Observations of the 2002 July 23 Gamma-Ray Flare

Abstract: In this paper we examine two aspects of the 2002 July 23 gamma-ray flare by using multiwavelength observations. First, the data suggest that the interaction of the erupted field with an overlying large-scale coronal field can explain the offset between the gamma-ray and the hard X-ray sources observed in this event. Second, we pay attention to rapid and permanent changes in the photospheric magnetic field associated with the flare. MDI and BBSO magnetograms show that the following magnetic flux had rapidly decreased by 1 × 1020 Mx immediately after the flare, while the leading polarity was gradually increasing for several hours after the flare. Our study also suggests that the changes were most probably associated with the emergence of new flux and the reorientation of the magnetic field lines. We interpret the magnetograph and spectral data for this event in terms of the tether-cutting model.

Studies of Microflares in RHESSI Hard X-Ray, Big Bear Solar Observatory Hα, and Michelson Doppler Imager Magnetograms

Abstract: In this paper, we present a study of the morphology of 12 microflares jointly observed by RHESSI in the energy range from 3 to 15 keV and by Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) at the Hα line. They are A2-B3 events in GOES classification. From their time profiles, we find that all of these microflares are seen in soft X-ray, hard X-ray, and Hα wavelengths, and their temporal evolution resembles that of large flares. Co-aligned hard X-ray, Hα, and magnetic field observations show that the events all occurred in active regions and were located near magnetic neutral lines. In almost all of the events, the hard X-ray sources are elongated structures connecting two Hα bright kernels in opposite magnetic fields. These results suggest that, similar to large flares, the X-ray sources of the microflares represent emission from small magnetic loops and that the Hα bright kernels indicate emission at footpoints of these flare loops in the lower atmosphere. Among the 12 microflares, we include five events that are clearly associated with type III radio bursts as observed by the radio spectrometer on board Wind. Spectral fitting results indicate the nonthermal origin of the X-ray emission at over ~10 keV during the impulsive phase of all the events, and the photon spectra of the microflares associated with type III bursts are generally harder than those without type III bursts. TRACE observations at EUV wavelengths are available for five events in our list, and in two of these, coincident EUV jets are clearly identified to be spatially associated with the microflares. Such findings suggest that some microflares are produced by magnetic reconnection, which results in closed compact loops and open field lines. Electrons accelerated during the flare escape along the open field lines to interplanetary space.

On the photometric accuracy of rhessi imaging and spectrosocopy

Abstract: We compare the photometric accuracy of spectra and images in flares observed with the Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) spacecraft. We test the accuracy of the photometry by comparing the photon fluxes obtained in different energy ranges from the spectral-fitting software SPEX with those fluxes contained in the images reconstructed with the Clean, MEM, MEM-Vis, Pixon, and Forward-fit algorithms. We quantify also the background fluxes, the fidelity of source geometries, and spatial spectra reconstructed with the five image reconstruction algorithms. We investigate the effects of grid selection, pixel size, field of view, and time intervals on the quality of image reconstruction. The detailed parameters and statistics are provided in an accompanying CD-ROM and web page. We find that Forward-fit, Pixon, and Clean have a robust convergence behavior and a photometric accuracy in the order of a few percent, while MEM does not converge optimally for large degrees of freedom (for large field of view and/or small pixel sizes), and MEM-Vis suffers in the case of time-variable sources. This comparative study documents the current status of the RHESSI spectral and imaging software, one year after launch.

High-frequency slowly drifting structures and X-ray sources observed by RHESSI

Abstract: Three solar flares (April 4, 2002, May 17, 2002, and August 30, 2002) with the 0.4-2.0 GHz slowly drifting structures were selected and analyzed together with RHESSI X-ray observations. Two events (April 4, 2002 and May 17, 2002) were observed above and one event (August 30, 2002) close to the solar limb. While in April 4, 2002 and August 30, 2002 the radio drifting structures with relatively high frequency drifts (-32--25 MHz s -1 ) were recorded at times of the start of a motion of the X-ray flare source, in May 17, 2002 event a splitting of the X-ray source into two sources was observed before observation of the 0.8-1.8 GHz radio structure drifting with very slow frequency drift (-0.4 MHz s -1 ). The X-ray source of the May 17, 2002 was much softer ( 100 keV). Velocities of the X-ray sources in the image plane were estimated as 12 km s -1 for April 4, 2002 and 10 km s -1 for August 30, 2002. Analyzing GOES data and X-ray RHESSI spectra of the May 17, 2002 flare the plasma thermal and non-thermal electron densities in the X-ray sources were determined. For two cases (April 4, 2002 and May 17, 2002) it was found that the plasma density in the coronal X-ray source is higher than maximum one derived from the radio drifting structure. The cross-correlation of the radio drifting structure and hard X-ray flux for the August 30, 2002 event reveals that the hard X-ray emission is delayed 0.5-0.7 s after the radio and it is partly correlated with an enhanced background of the drifting structure. All these results are discussed and interpreted considering the flare model with the plasmoid ejection.

Nobeyama Radioheliograph and RHESSI Observations of the X1.5 Flare of 2002 April 21

Abstract: We present an overview of the radio observations of the X1.5 flare of 2002 April 21 and complementary data from other wavelengths. This flare was fairly well observed by the Ramaty High Energy Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) spacecraft and fully observed by the Nobeyama Radioheliograph (NoRH) at 17 and 34 GHz. This long-duration event lasted more than 2 hr and featured a beautiful arcade of rising loops on the limb visible at X-ray, EUV, and radio wavelengths. The main flare was preceded by a small event 90 minutes earlier showing a long EUV loop connecting well-separated radio and hard X-ray sources. The main flare itself starts with a compact radio and hard X-ray source at the eastern end of the region that develops into emission close to the solar surface (and well inside the solar limb) over a large region to the northwest. As the flare proceeds, a large set of loops is seen to rise well above the solar limb. Distinct regions of radio emission with very different time behavior can be identified in the radio images, and, in particular, a peculiar nonthermal source seen in radio and hard X-rays low in the corona at the base of the arcade is seen to turn on 30 minutes after the start of the impulsive phase. At about the same time, an extremely intense burst of coherent radio emission is seen from 500 to 2000 MHz; we speculate that this lower-frequency burst is produced by electrons that are accelerated in the nonthermal source at the base of the arcade and injected into the loop system where they radiate plasma emission in the 1010 cm-3 density plasma at the top of the arcade of loops. This event is striking as a demonstration of the many ways in which a flare can produce radio emission, and the combined data at different wavelengths reveal a diversity of energy release and nonthermal acceleration sites.

CME Interaction and the Intensity of Solar Energetic Particle Events

Abstract: Large Solar Energetic Particles (SEPs) are closely associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs) The significant correlation observed between SEP intensity and CME speed has been considered as the evidence for such a close connection The recent finding that SEP events with preceding wide CMEs are likely to have higher intensities compared to those without was attributed to the interaction of the CME-driven shocks with the preceding CMEs or with their aftermath It is also possible that the intensity of SEPs may also be affected by the properties of the solar source region In this study, we found that the active region area has no relation with the SEP intensity and CME speed, thus supporting the importance of CME interaction However, there is a significant correlation between flare size and the active region area, which probably reflects the spatial scale of the flare phenomenon as compared to that of the CME-driven shockTo search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabsharvardedu/abstract_servicehtml