Coronal mass ejections: Initiation and detection

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are large-scale magnetic structures expelled from the Sun due to MHD processes involving interaction between plasma and magnetic field in closed field regions. I provide a summary of the observational signatures and current models on CME initiation. I also discuss the multiwavelength signatures of CMEs, which have helped us obtain a global picture of the CME phenomenon in the inner heliosphere.