Coronal Mass Ejections Observed by the Mauna Loa Solar Observatory Coronagraphs Associated with Solar Energetic Particle Events - A Progress Report
Abstract
Studies using spacebased coronagraph measurements of the middle corona indicate that CME dynamics provide information about the characteristics of the resulting SEP event. For example, the peak SEP intensity at a given location in space is dependent on the CME speed and direction [e.g., Kahler, 2001; Richardson et al., 2014, 2018] and is also correlated with the CME brightness [Kahler & Vourlidas, 2005]. Furthermore, the SEP spectral hardness appears to be related to the initial CME acceleration [Gopalswamy et al., 2015, 2017], but this conclusion is based on proxies for the acceleration below the field of view of spacebased coronagraphs. Combining spacebased coronagraph observations with groundbased observations of the low corona would eliminate the need for such proxies and allow CME formation and the initial acceleration to be observed directly. This paper is a progress report on a study of SEPs associated with CMEs detected since 1980 by coronameters at the Mauna Loa Solar Observatory (MLSO) that can measure directly the formation and initial accelerations of CMEs low in the corona (i.e., < 2 Rs). The MLSO observations of the initial CME signatures are combined with observations from spacebased coronagraphs. We then compare the CME characteristics with the properties of the related SEPs observed by spacecraft near Earth and elsewhere in the heliosphere. In particular, we have now identified all of the 1980-1996 MLSO CMEs with associated SEPs observed for example by the IMP 8, ISEE-3 and Helios spacecraft, and summarize their properties. We also note some of the challenges in associating CMEs with SEPs and solar events in the pre-SOHO/WIND/ACE era.
- Publication:
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Solar Heliospheric and INterplanetary Environment (SHINE 2019)
- Pub Date:
- May 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019shin.confE..26R