The connection between pressure waves in the corona and solar energetic particle events

We combine ultraviolet and white-light images obtained by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and the Solar-Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) to track, in the lower corona, the spatial and temporal evolution of pressure waves associated with the onset of Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). We use ideal geometrical 3-D surfaces (spheroids, ellipsoids) to follow with time the spatial location of pressure variations observed in EUV and white-light images. This fitting technique provides a tracking of the evolution of coronal shocks from the Sun to 20 solar radii. We use a simple model of the distribution of interplanetary magnetic field lines to determine the footpoint locations of field lines connecting the lower corona to the points of in-situ measurements. We extract the velocity 3-D vector along the shock normal for different intersecting magnetic field lines connected to in-situ spacecraft. We use in-situ measurements of the onset of solar energetic particle events (SEPs) to determine their release time near the Sun. We concentrate on the proton-rich events detected by the near-Earth spacecraft as well as the STEREO spacecraft from 2011 to 2013. We (1) determine the height and spatial extent of the pressure waves at the SEP release times, (2) compare the longitudinal extent of SEP events with the extent of the pressure waves, (3) compare the kinematic properties of pressure waves launched over widely separated longitudes with the intensity of proton-rich events. We discuss the successes and challenges faced when interpreting SEP events in terms of the speed and geometry of coronal shocks.