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Project

Understanding the acceleration of the fast solar wind by linking remote-sensing and in-situ observations

The objective of this project is to combine observations of the Sun and observations near the Earth in order to perform “linkage” analysis from the outer layers of the Sun’s atmosphere (solar corona) to the solar wind that blows out of this atmosphere towards the interplanetary space, so as to identify and constrain the mechanisms that heat the solar corona and accelerate the fast solar wind. We will use computational tools to track the solar wind that is observed at a spacecraft to its source location on the solar surface. A classical approach consists in calculating a ballistic trajectory from the spacecraft down to a distance very close to the Sun (approximately 2.5 solar radii) and from there to use numerical techniques to map the source down to the surface. Different numerical methods for the latter part will be tested to assess their precision and prepare predictions tools for future solar missions. To implement these numerical methods, code developed at Centre for mathematical Plasma-Astrophysics (KU Leuven) will be extensively used. We will analyze how proxies of the same physical parameter evolve between the solar corona to the interplanetary medium to investigate how their variation can influence or provide additional speed to the solar wind. “Linkage” analysis is a timely topic as the analysis of data from future space missions in which Belgium is involved, like Solar Orbiter and Parker Solar Probe, can re-use the tools and methods that will be developed during this project.

Date:1 Oct 2018 →  15 Jan 2023
Keywords:Fast Solar Wind, Coronal Holes, Coronal Heating, Space Weather
Disciplines:Space plasma physics and solar physics
Project type:PhD project