Shock and SEP Modeling Study for the 5 September 2022 SEP Event
A. Kouloumvakos, N. Wijsen, I. C. Jebaraj, A. Afanasiev, D. Lario, C. M. S. Cohen, P. Riley, D. G. Mitchell, Z. Ding, A. Vourlidas, J. Giacalone, X. Chen, M. E. Hill
2022年9月5日，在Parker Solar Probe（PSP）第13次交会期间，当航天器接近其轨道近日点时，观测到一个快速激波和一次相关的太阳高能粒子（SEP）事件。来自Integrated Science Investigation of the Sun（ISOIS）仪器套件的观测表明，SEP在母太阳爆发开始后显著延迟才到达航天器，并且最先到达的SEP在能量高于约1 MeV的高能质子中表现出逆速度色散（IVD）。利用来自多个航天器的数据，我们研究了爆发动力学和激波传播。我们的分析包括三维激波建模和SEP传输模拟，以考察此次SEP事件的起源，并探究SEP开始时间延迟及观测到的IVD的原因。数据驱动的SEP模拟再现了在PSP处观测到的SEP事件开始、其不断演化的能谱以及IVD。该IVD归因于在PSP所截获的膨胀激波侧翼处发生的相对缓慢且持续的粒子加速过程。这对于理解广泛分布事件中激波在SEP释放中的作用以及用于推断SEP释放时间的方法具有重要意义。此外，当考虑跨场扩散时，模拟与观测之间的吻合变差，表明SEP扩散对此次事件影响较小。这些发现突显了SEP事件的复杂性，并强调需要先进的建模方法，以更好地理解激波和其他物理过程在SEP加速与释放中的作用。
英文摘要：
On September 5, 2022, during Parker Solar Probe's (PSP) 13th encounter, a fast shock wave and a related solar energetic particle (SEP) event were observed as the spacecraft approached the perihelion of its orbit. Observations from the Integrated Science Investigation of the Sun (ISOIS) instrument suite show that SEPs arrived at the spacecraft with a significant delay from the onset of the parent solar eruption and that the first arriving SEPs exhibited an Inverse Velocity Dispersion (IVD) for energetic protons above $\sim$1~MeV. Utilizing data from multiple spacecraft we investigate the eruption dynamics and shock wave propagation. Our analysis includes 3D shock modeling and SEP transport simulations to examine the origins of this SEP event and explore the causes of the delayed SEP onset and the observed IVD. The data-driven SEP simulation reproduces the SEP event onset observed at PSP, its evolving energy spectrum and the IVD. This IVD is attributed to a relatively slow, ongoing particle acceleration process occurring at the flank of the expanding shock wave intercepted by PSP. This has significant implications for the role of shocks in the release of SEPs at widespread events and for methods used to infer the SEP release times. Furthermore, the match between the simulation and observations worsens when cross-field diffusion is considered, indicating that SEP diffusion had a minor effect on this event. These findings underscore the complexity of SEP events and emphasize the need for advanced modelling approaches to better understand the role of shock waves and other physical processes in SEP acceleration and release.
The origin of hard X-rays and gamma-rays emitted from the solar atmosphere during occulted solar flares is still debated. The hard X-ray emissions could come from flaring loop tops rising above the limb or Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) shock waves, two by-products of energetic solar storms. For the shock scenario to work, accelerated particles must be released on magnetic field lines rooted on the visible disk and precipitate. We present a new Monte Carlo code that computes particle acceleration at shocks propagating along large coronal magnetic loops. A first implementation of the model is car…
Forecasting solar energetic particles (SEPs), and identifying flare/CMEs from active regions (ARs) that will produce SEP events in advance is extremely challenging. We investigate the magnetic field environment of AR 12673, including the AR's magnetic configuration, the surrounding field configuration in the vicinity of the AR, the decay index profile, and the footpoints of Earth-connected magnetic field, around the time of four eruptive events. Two of the eruptive events are SEP-productive (2017 September 4 at 20:00~UT and September 6 at 11:56~UT), while two are not (September 4 at 18:05~UT a…
Sun-to-Earth Characteristics of Two Coronal Mass Ejections Interacting near 1 AU: Formation of a Complex Ejecta and Generation of a Two-Step Geomagnetic Storm
In this multi-instrument paper, we search for evidence of sustained magnetic reconnection far beyond the impulsive phase of the X8.2-class solar flare on 2017 September 10. Using Hinode/EIS, CoMP, SDO/AIA, K-Cor, Hinode/XRT, RHESSI, and IRIS, we study the late-stage evolution of the flare dynamics and topology, comparing signatures of reconnection with those expected from the standard solar flare model. Examining previously unpublished EIS data, we present the evolution of non-thermal velocity and temperature within the famous plasma sheet structure, for the first four hours of the flare's dur…
Solar active region 12673 produced two successive X-class flares (X2.2 and X9.3) approximately 3 hours apart in September 2017. The X9.3 was the recorded largest solar flare in Solar Cycle 24. In this study we perform a data-constrained magnetohydrodynamic simulation taking into account the observed photospheric magnetic field to reveal the initiation and dynamics of the X2.2 and X9.3 flares. According to our simulation, the X2.2 flare is first triggered by magnetic reconnection at a local site where at the photosphere the negative polarity intrudes into the opposite-polarity region. This magn…
The X8.2-class limb flare on September 10, 2017 is among the best studied solar flare events owing to its great similarity to the standard flare model and the broad coverage by multiple spacecraft and ground-based observations. These multiwavelength observations indicate that electron acceleration and transport are efficient in the reconnection and flare looptop regions. However, there lacks a comprehensive model for explaining and interpreting the multi-faceted observations. In this work, we model the electron acceleration and transport in the early impulsive phase of this flare. We solve the…
In this study, we investigate motions in the hot plasma above the flare loops during the 2017 September 10 X8.2 flare event. We examine the region to the south of the main flare arcade, where there is data from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), and the Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) on Hinode. We find that there are initial blue shifts of 20--60 km/s observed in this region in the Fe XXI line in IRIS and the Fe XXIV line in EIS, and that the locations of these blue shifts move southward along the arcade over the course of about 10 min. The cadence of IRIS allows…
We discuss properties of a Type IV burst, which was observed on 2017 September 6, as a result of the powerful flare X 9.3. At decameter wavelengths this burst was observed by the radio telescopes STEREO A, URAN-2, and NDA at frequencies 5 - 35 MHz. This moving Type IV burst was associated with a coronal mass ejection (CME) propagating in the southwest direction with a speed of 1570 km/s. The maximum radio flux of this burst was about 300 s.f.u. and the polarization was more than 40%. In the frequency range of 8-33 MHz it continued for more than 2 hr. For STEREO A the associated CME was behind …
We present the results of analyses of the ground level enhancements (GLEs) of cosmic ray (CR) events of 29 September 1989; 15 April 2001 and 20 January 2005. This involve examination of hourly raw CR counts of an array of neutron monitors (NMs) spread across different geographical latitudes and longitudes. Using awk script and computer codes implemented in R-software, the pressure corrected raw data plots of the NMs were grouped into low-, mid-, and, high-latitudes. The results show both similarities and differences in the structural patterns of the GLE signals. In an attempt to explain why th…
Active region (AR) 12673 produced many M-class and several X-class flares, one of which being an X9.3 flare, which is recorded as the largest solar flare in solar cycle 24. We studied the evolution of the three-dimensional flare-productive magnetic field within AR 12673, using a time series of nonlinear force-free field extrapolations of every 12 hours from September 4th 00:00 UT to 6th 00:00 UT. Our analysis found that three magnetic flux ropes (MFRs) are formed by September 4th, one of which produced the X9.3 flare on September 6th. One MFR has positive magnetic twist which is a different si…
We revisit the full variety of observed temporal and spatial distributions of energetic solar protons in "gradual" solar energetic-particle (SEP) events resulting from the spatial variations in the shock waves that accelerate them. Differences in the shock strength at the solar longitude of a spacecraft and at the footpoint of its connecting magnetic field line, nominally 55 degrees to the west, drive much of that variation. The shock wave itself, together with energetic particles trapped near it by self-amplified Alfven waves, forms an underlying autonomous structure that can drive across mag…
Using centimeter wave and decimeter wave solar radio spectral observations of the flares of November 18, 2003 and September 12, 2004, we have discussed two type II like bursts at the meter waves. The radio bursts show that the ordinary frequency drift from high to low frequencies slows down and stops, and a frequency drift from low to high frequencies appears. An analysis of all data on the corresponding flares provides evidence of formation of quasi standing fast mode shocks (termination shocks, TS). TS are able to generate energetic electrons, responsible for the appearance of new sources of…
During 2017, when the Sun was moving toward the minimum phase of solar cycle 24, an exceptionally eruptive active region (AR) NOAA 12673 emerged on the Sun during August 28-September 10. During the highest activity level, the AR turned into a delta-type sunspot region, which manifests the most complex configuration of magnetic fields from the photosphere to the coronal heights. The AR 12673 produced four X-class and 27 M-class flares, along with numerous C-class flares, making it one of the most powerful ARs of solar cycle 24. Notably, it produced the largest flare of solar cycle 24, namely, t…
The solar corona below 10 solar radii is an important region for early acceleration and transport of solar energetic particles (SEPs) by coronal mass ejection-driven shock waves. There, these waves propagate into a highly variable dynamic medium with steep gradients and rapidly expanding coronal magnetic fields, which modulates the particle acceleration near the shock or wave surfaces, and the way SEPs spread into the heliosphere. We present a study modelling the acceleration of SEPs in global coronal shock events in the corona, as well as their transport to 1 au, based on telescopic observati…
We reexamine the relationship between energy spectral indices and element abundance enhancements in solar energetic particle (SEP) events at energies of a few MeV/amu. We find a correlated behavior only in the largest gradual SEP4 events when all ions are accelerated from the ambient coronal plasma by shock waves driven by fast, wide coronal mass ejections (CMEs). This correlated abundance behavior can track complex time variations in the spectral indices during an event. In other (SEP3) events, CME-driven shock waves, days apart, sample seed particles from a single pool of suprathermal impuls…
