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The lower and middle solar corona up to about 30 solar radii is thought to be 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/wave surfaces, and the way SEPs spread into the heliosphere. We present a study modeling the acceleration of SEPs in over 50 separate global coronal shock events between 1 and 30 solar radii. As part of the SPREAdFAST framework project, we analyzed the interaction of off-limb coronal bright fronts (CBF) observed with the SDO/AIA EUV telescope with realistic model coronal plasma based on results from synoptic magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) and differential emission measure (DEM) models. We used realistic quiet-time proton spectra observed near Earth to form seed suprathermal populations accelerated in our diffusive shock acceleration model (Kozarev & Schwadron, 2016). We summarize our findings and present implications for nowcasting SEP acceleration and heliospheric connectivity.

In this work, we present a full characterization of over 50 historical Coronal Mass Ejection (CME)-driven compressive waves in the low solar corona, related to solar energetic particle events near Earth, using the Solar Particle Radiation Environment Analysis and Forecasting - Acceleration and Scattering Transport (SPREAdFAST) framework. SPREAdFAST is a physics-based, operational heliospheric solar energetic particle (SEP) forecasting system, which incorporates a chain of data-driven analytic and numerical models for estimating: a) coronal magnetic field from Potential Field Source Surface (PFSS) and Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD); b) dynamics of large-scale coronal (CME-driven) shock waves; c) energetic particle acceleration; d) scatter-based, time-dependent SEP propagation in the heliosphere to specific time-dependent positions. SPREAdFAST allows for producing predictions of SEP fluxes at multiple locations in the inner heliosphere, by modeling their acceleration at CMEs near the Sun, and their subsequent interplanetary transport. We used sequences of base-difference images obtained from the AIA instrument on board the SDO satellite, with 24-second cadence. We calculated time-dependent speeds in both the radial and lateral (parallel to the solar limb) directions, mean intensities and thicknesses of the fronts, and major and minor axes. This is essential for characterizing the SEP spectra near the Sun. The kinematics measurements were used to generate time-dependent 3D geometric models of the wave fronts and time-dependent plasma diagnostics using MHD and DEM model results.

All authors: Rouillard, A. P.; Pinto, R. F.; Vourlidas, A.; De Groof, A.; Thompson, W. T.; Bemporad, A.; Dolei, S.; Indurain, M.; Buchlin, E.; Sasso, C.; Spadaro, D.; Dalmasse, K.; Hirzberger, J.; Zouganelis, I.; Strugarek, A.; Brun, A. S.; Alexandre, M.; Berghmans, D.; Raouafi, N. E.; Wiegelmann, T.; Pagano, P.; Arge, C. N.; Nieves-Chinchilla, T.; Lavarra, M.; Poirier, N.; Amari, T.; Aran, A.; Andretta, V.; Antonucci, E.; Anastasiadis, A.; Auchère, F.; Bellot Rubio, L.; Nicula, B.; Bonnin, X.; Bouchemit, M.; Budnik, E.; Caminade, S.; Cecconi, B.; Carlyle, J.; Cernuda, I.; Davila, J. M.; Etesi, L.; Espinosa Lara, F.; Fedorov, A.; Fineschi, S.; Fludra, A.; Génot, V.; Georgoulis, M. K.; Gilbert, H. R.; Giunta, A.; Gomez-Herrero, R.; Guest, S.; Haberreiter, M.; Hassler, D.; Henney, C. J.; Howard, R. A.; Horbury, T. S.; Janvier, M.; Jones, S. I.; Kozarev, K.; Kraaikamp, E.; Kouloumvakos, A.; Krucker, S.; Lagg, A.; Linker, J.; Lavraud, B.; Louarn, P.; Maksimovic, M.; Maloney, S.; Mann, G.; Masson, A.; Müller, D.; Önel, H.; Osuna, P.; Orozco Suarez, D.; Owen, C. J.; Papaioannou, A.; Pérez-Suárez, D.; Rodriguez-Pacheco, J.; Parenti, S.; Pariat, E.; Peter, H.; Plunkett, S.; Pomoell, J.; Raines, J. M.; Riethmüller, T. L.; Rich, N.; Rodriguez, L.; Romoli, M.; Sanchez, L.; Solanki, S. K.; St Cyr, O. C.; Straus, T.; Susino, R.; Teriaca, L.; del Toro Iniesta, J. C.; Ventura, R.; Verbeeck, C.; Vilmer, N.; Warmuth, A.; Walsh, A. P.; Watson, C.; Williams, D.; Wu, Y.; Zhukov, A. N.-- Open Access article, published by EDP Sciences, under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited., Context. The Solar Orbiter spacecraft will be equipped with a wide range of remote-sensing (RS) and in situ (IS) instruments to record novel and unprecedented measurements of the solar atmosphere and the inner heliosphere. To take full advantage of these new datasets, tools and techniques must be developed to ease multi-instrument and multi-spacecraft studies. In particular the currently inaccessible low solar corona below two solar radii can only be observed remotely. Furthermore techniques must be used to retrieve coronal plasma properties in time and in three dimensional (3D) space. Solar Orbiter will run complex observation campaigns that provide interesting opportunities to maximise the likelihood of linking IS data to their source region near the Sun. Several RS instruments can be directed to specific targets situated on the solar disk just days before data acquisition. To compare IS and RS, data we must improve our understanding of how heliospheric probes magnetically connect to the solar disk. Aims. The aim of the present paper is to briefly review how the current modelling of the Sun and its atmosphere can support Solar Orbiter science. We describe the results of a community-led effort by European Space Agency's Modelling and Data Analysis Working Group (MADAWG) to develop different models, tools, and techniques deemed necessary to test different theories for the physical processes that may occur in the solar plasma. The focus here is on the large scales and little is described with regards to kinetic processes. To exploit future IS and RS data fully, many techniques have been adapted to model the evolving 3D solar magneto-plasma from the solar interior to the solar wind. A particular focus in the paper is placed on techniques that can estimate how Solar Orbiter will connect magnetically through the complex coronal magnetic fields to various photospheric and coronal features in support of spacecraft operations and future scientific studies. Methods. Recent missions such as STEREO, provided great opportunities for RS, IS, and multi-spacecraft studies. We summarise the achievements and highlight the challenges faced during these investigations, many of which motivated the Solar Orbiter mission. We present the new tools and techniques developed by the MADAWG to support the science operations and the analysis of the data from the many instruments on Solar Orbiter. Results. This article reviews current modelling and tool developments that ease the comparison of model results with RS and IS data made available by current and upcoming missions. It also describes the modelling strategy to support the science operations and subsequent exploitation of Solar Orbiter data in order to maximise the scientific output of the mission. Conclusions. The on-going community effort presented in this paper has provided new models and tools necessary to support mission operations as well as the science exploitation of the Solar Orbiter data. The tools and techniques will no doubt evolve significantly as we refine our procedure and methodology during the first year of operations of this highly promising mission. © 2020 A. P. Rouillard et al., Solar Orbiter is a joint ESA and NASA mission. A. Vourlidas' Solar Orbiter effort is supported by NRL grant N00173-16-1-G029. P. Pagano would like to thank D. H. Mackay and S. L. Yardley for their valuable contributions, the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 647214), and the DiRAC Data Centric system at Durham University, operated by the Institute for Computational Cosmology on behalf of the STFC DiRAC HPC Facility (http://www.dirac.ac.uk).This equipment was funded by a BIS National E-infrastructure capital grant ST/K00042X/1, STFC capital grant ST/K00087X/1, DiRAC Operations grant ST/K003267/1 and Durham University. DiRAC is part of the National E-Infrastructure. A. Rouillard, V. Genot, M. Janvier, Elie Soubrier, F. Auchere, E. Buchlin and E. Pariat acknowledge support from the French space agency (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales; CNES; https://cnes.fr/fr) that funds activity in plasma physics data center (Centre de Donnees de la Physique des Plasmas; CDPP; http://cdpp.eu/) and the Multi Experiment Data and Operation Center (MEDOC; https://idoc.ias.u-psud.fr/MEDOC), and the space weather team in Toulouse (Solar-Terrestrial Observations and Modelling Service; STORMS; http://storms-service.irap.omp.eu/).This includes funding for Gaia-DEM, the data mining tools AMDA (http://amda.cdpp.eu/), CLWEB (clweb.cesr. fr/) and the propagation tool (http://propagationtool.cdpp.eu).R.Pinto, M. Lavarra, Y. Wu and A. Kouloumvakos acknowledge financial support from the ANR project SLOW_ SOURCE No. ANR-17-CE31-0006-01, ANR project COROSHOCK No. ANR-18-ERC1-0006-01 and FP7 HELCATS project https://www.helcats-fp7.eu/under the FP7 EU contract number 606692. A. Warmuth acknowledges the support by DLR under grant No. 50 QL 0001. The STEREO SECCHI data are produced by a consortium of RAL (UK), NRL (USA), LMSAL (USA), GSFC (USA), MPS (Germany), CSL (Belgium), IOTA (France) and IAS (France). The ACE data were obtained from the ACE science center. The WIND data were obtained from the Space Physics Data Facility. Javier Rodriguez-Pacheco acknowledges Spanish Project: FEDER/MCIU-AEI/Project ESP2017-88436-R.

Solar energetic particles (SEPs) are an important product of solar activity. They are connected to solar active regions and flares, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), EUV waves, shocks, Type II and III radio emissions, and X-ray bursts. These phenomena are major probes of the partition of energy in solar eruptions, as well as for the organization, dynamics, and relaxation of coronal and interplanetary magnetic fields. Many of these phenomena cause terrestrial space weather, posing multiple hazards for humans and their technology from space to the ground. Since particular flares, shocks, CMEs, and EUV waves produce SEP events but others do not, since propagation effects from the low corona to 1 AU appear important for some events but not others, and since Type II and III radio emissions and X-ray bursts are sometimes produced by energetic particles leaving these acceleration sites, it is necessary to study the whole system with a multi-frequency and multi-instrument perspective that combines both in-situ and remote observations with detailed modelling of phenomena. This article demonstrates this comprehensive approach, and shows its necessity, by analysing a trio of unusual and striking solar eruptions, radio and X-ray bursts, and SEP events that occurred on 4 November 2015. These events show both strong similarities and differences from standard events and each other, despite having very similar interplanetary conditions and only two are sites and CME genesis regions. They are therefore major targets for further in-depth observational studies, and for testing both existing and new theories and models. Based on the very limited modelling available we identify the aspects that are and are not understood, and we discuss ideas that may lead to improved understanding of the SEP, radio, and space-weather events., 56 pages, 25 figures; Accepted for publication in Solar Physics

Particle radiation has significant effects for astronauts, satellites and planetary bodies throughout the Solar System. Acute space radiation hazards pose risks to human and robotic exploration. This radiation also naturally weathers the exposed surface regolith of the Moon, the two moons of Mars, and other airless bodies, and contributes to chemical evolution of planetary atmospheres at Earth, Mars, Venus, Titan, and Pluto. We provide a select review of recent areas of research covering the origin of SEPs from coronal mass ejections low in the corona, propagation of events through the solar system during the anomalously weak solar cycle 24 and important examples of radiation interactions for Earth, other planets and airless bodies such as the Moon.

Low frequency imaging radio arrays such as MWA, LWA and LOFAR have been recently commissioned, and significantly more advanced and flexible arrays are planned for the near term. These powerful instruments offer new opportunities for direct solar imaging at high time and frequency resolution. They can also probe large volumes of the heliosphere simultaneously, by virtue of very large fields of view. They allow highly detailed, spatially resolved study of solar and heliospheric radio bursts, which are complemented by heliospheric propagation studies using both background astronomical radio emissions as well as the bursts themselves. In this paper, the state of the art in such wide field solar and heliospheric radio studies is summarized, including recent results from the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA). The prospects for major advances in observational capabilities in the near future are reviewed, with particular emphasis on the RAPID system developed at Haystack Observatory, Comment: Accepted for publication in Proceedings of "8th International Workshop on Planetary, Solar and Heliospheric Radio Emissions (PRE VIII)". 10 pages, 4 figures

Acute space radiation hazards pose one of the most serious risks to future human and robotic exploration. Large solar energetic particle (SEP) events are dangerous to astronauts and equipment. The ability to predict when and where large SEPs will occur is necessary in order to mitigate their hazards. The Coronal-Solar Wind Energetic Particle Acceleration (C-SWEPA) modeling effort in the NASANSF Space Weather Modeling Collaborative [Schunk, 2014] combines two successful Living With a Star (LWS) (http:lws.gsfc.nasa.gov) strategic capabilities: the Earth-Moon-Mars Radiation Environment Modules (EMMREM)[Schwadron et al., 2010] that describe energetic particles and their effects, with the Next Generation Model forthe Corona and Solar Wind developed by the Predictive Science, Inc. (PSI) group. The goal of the C-WEPA effort is to develop a coupled model that describes the conditions of the corona, solar wind, coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and associated shocks, particle acceleration, and propagation via physics-based modules. Assessing the threat of SEPs is a difficult problem. The largest SEPs typically arise in conjunction with X classflares and very fast (1000 kms) CMEs. These events are usually associated with complex sunspot groups(also known as active regions) that harbor strong, stressed magnetic fields. Highly energetic protonsgenerated in these events travel near the speed of light and can arrive at Earth minutes after the eruptiveevent. The generation of these particles is, in turn, believed to be primarily associated with the shock waveformed very low in the corona by the passage of the CME (injection of particles fromthe flare sitemay also playa role). Whether these particles actually reach Earth (or any other point) depends on their transport in theinterplanetary magnetic field and their magnetic connection to the shock.

An outstanding problem in heliospheric physics is understanding the acceleration of solar energetic particles (SEP) in coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and flares. A fundamental question is whether the acceleration occurs in interplanetary space, or near the Sun. Recent work has shown that CME-driven shocks may produce SEPs while still below 5 solar radii. In this work we explore SEP acceleration during the onset of CMEs and shocks even lower in the corona, using realistic suprathermal spectra, for a selection of events. We have calculated quiet-time, pre-event suprathermal particle spectra from 1 AU observations, and scaled them back to the low corona to serve as seed spectra. For each event, AIA observations and the CASHeW framework were used to model the compressive/shock wave kinematics and its interaction with the corona. The proton acceleration was then modeled using an analytic diffusive shock acceleration model as the shock waves propagate between 1.05 and 1.3 solar radii. We demonstrate the capability of low coronal shock-related EUV waves to accelerate protons to multi-MeV energies in a matter of minutes, in the very early stages of the associated solar eruptions. We find that strong proton energization occurs for high values of the density jump, Alfven Mach number, and shock speed. In future work the results of this early-stage shock acceleration will be used to model the continued acceleration higher in the corona.

Energetic storm particle (ESP) events are enhancements above ~0.05 MeV/nucleon ions near 1 AU in association with the passage of an interplanetary (IP) coronal mass ejection (ICME). The primary candidate of producing these enhancements is diffusive shock acceleration (DSA). ESPs can produce significant increases in the near-Earth particulate radiation and pose severe hazards to astronauts and hardware in space. Physical parameters thought to affect ESP production include IP shock properties (e.g., speed, strength, obliquity) and conditions upstream of the propagating shock (e.g., seed population, ambient plasma conditions). Several theoretical and observational studies tried to relate ESP production to these drivers; however, reliable prediction of ESP properties (e.g. intensities, spectra, abundances), including their event-to-event variability, has so far proven elusive. This indicates an incomplete understanding of how ICME-driven IP shocks accelerate ESPs. Using instruments onboard ACE, we investigate the relations between a large set of parameters (28) that characterize (i) ESP properties, (ii) IP shock and ICME properties, and (iii) the upstream and downstream conditions measured across the IP shock. Ee present a comprehensive correlation matrix between all parameters and those of the ESP properties, in an attempt to identify the dominant parameters that influence ESP production and variability. We find that within the selected dataset, (1) spectral and compositional relations strongly indicate a rigidity-dependent acceleration mechanism, (2) correlations between observations and DSA predictions are poor, (iii) ICME sheath temperature appears to play a role in determining the ESP peak intensities.

We have recently studied the development of an eruptive filament-driven, large-scale off-limb coronal bright front (OCBF) in the low solar corona (Kozarev et al. 2015), using remote observations from Solar Dynamics Observatory's Advanced Imaging Assembly EUV telescopes. In that study, we obtained high-temporal resolution estimates of the OCBF parameters regulating the efficiency of charged particle acceleration within the theoretical framework of diffusive shock acceleration (DSA). These parameters include the time-dependent front size, speed, and strength, as well as the upstream coronal magnetic field orientations with respect to the front's surface normal direction. Here we present an analytical particle acceleration model, specifically developed to incorporate the coronal shock/compressive front properties described above, derived from remote observations. We verify the model's performance through a grid of idealized case runs using input parameters typical for large-scale coronal shocks, and demonstrate that the results approach the expected DSA steady-state behavior. We then apply the model to the event of May 11, 2011 using the OCBF time-dependent parameters derived in Kozarev et al. (2015). We find that the compressive front likely produced energetic particles as low as 1.3 solar radii in the corona. Comparing the modeled and observed fluences near Earth, we also find that the bulk of the acceleration during this event must have occurred above 1.5 solar radii. With this study we have taken a first step in using direct observations of shocks and compressions in the innermost corona to predict the onsets and intensities of SEP events., Comment: Submitted to The Astrophysical Journal on 11 June, 2016; Accepted for publication on August 22, 2016

The Earth-Moon-Mars Radiation Environment Module (EMMREM) is a numerical model for characterizing the time-dependent radiation environment in the Earth-Moon-Mars and interplanetary space en...

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are thought to drive collisionless shocks in the solar corona, which in turn have been shown capable of accelerating solar energetic particles (SEPs) in minutes. It has been notoriously difficult to extract information about energetic particle spectra in the corona, due to lack of in-situ measurements. It is possible, however, to combine remote observations with data-driven models in order to deduce coronal shock properties relevant to the local acceleration of SEPs and their heliospheric connectivity to near-Earth space. We present such novel analysis applied to the May 11, 2011 CME event on the western solar limb, focusing on the evolution of the eruption-driven, dome-like shock wave observed by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) EUV telescopes on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft. We analyze the shock evolution and estimate its strength using emission measure modeling. We apply a new method combining a geometric model of the shock front with a potential field source surface model to estimate time-dependent field-to-shock angles and heliospheric connectivity during shock passage in the low corona. We find that the shock was weak, with an initial speed of ~450 km/s. It was initially mostly quasi-parallel, but significant portion of it turned quasi-perpendicular later in the event. There was good magnetic connectivity to near-Earth space towards the end of the event as observed by the AIA instrument. The methods used in this analysis hold a significant potential for early characterization of coronal shock waves and forecasting of SEP spectra based on remote observations., 19 pages, 9 figures; Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal

[1] We investigate the ionospheric effects of a solar energetic particle (SEP) event at Mars, specifically the 29 September 1989 event. We use its energy spectrum and a steady state ionospheric model to simulate vertical profiles of ion and electron densities. The ionospheric response to this large event would have been readily observable. It caused electron densities to exceed 104 cm−3 at 30–170 km, much larger than typically observed below 100 km. It also increased the ionosphere's total electron content by half of its subsolar value and would have caused strong attenuation of radio waves. The simulated attenuation is 462 dB at 5 MHz, which demonstrates that SEP events can cause sufficient attenuation (>13 dB) to explain the lack of surface reflections in some MARSIS topside radar sounder observations. We also develop a complementary generalized approach to the study of the ionospheric effects of SEP events. This approach predicts the threshold intensities at which a SEP event is likely to produce detectable changes in electron density profiles and radio wave attenuation measurements. An event one hundred times less intense than the 29 September 1989 event produces electron densities in excess of 3000 cm−3 at 80 km, which should be measurable by radio occultation observations, and causes sufficient attenuation to eliminate MARSIS surface reflections. However, although enhancements in total electron content have been observed during SEP events, predicted enhancements in low altitude electron density were not confirmed by observations.

[1] We review NASA's short-term and career radiation limits for astronauts and methods for their application to future exploration missions outside of low Earth orbit. Career limits are intended to restrict late occurring health effects and include a 3% risk of exposure-induced death from cancer and new limits for central nervous system and heart disease risks. Short-term dose limits are used to prevent in-flight radiation sickness or death through restriction of the doses to the blood forming organs and to prevent clinically significant cataracts or skin damage through lens and skin dose limits, respectively. Large uncertainties exist in estimating the health risks of space radiation, chiefly the understanding of the radiobiology of heavy ions and dose rate and dose protraction effects, and the limitations in human epidemiology data. To protect against these uncertainties NASA estimates the 95% confidence in the cancer risk projection intervals as part of astronaut flight readiness assessments and mission design. Accurate organ dose and particle spectra models are needed to ensure astronauts stay below radiation limits and to support the goal of narrowing the uncertainties in risk projections. Methodologies for evaluation of space environments, radiation quality, and organ doses to evaluate limits are discussed, and current projections for lunar and Mars missions are described.

present a study of the October/November 2003 Halloween solar energetic particle events with an energetic particle acceleration and propagation model that is part of EMMREM, highlighting the current ability of the framework to make predictions at various locations of the inner heliosphere. We compare model predictions with Ulysses observations of protons at energies above 10 MeV in order to obtain realistic proton fluxes and calculate radial gradients for peak fluxes, event fluences, and radiation dosimetric quantities. From our study, we find that a power law with an index of −3.55 at energy of 200 MeV describes the time‐integrated energetic proton fluence dependence on radial distances beyond 1 AU for the 2003 Halloween events, and an index of −4.18 is appropriate for peak proton fluxes at that energy. Calculations of radiation doses based on these simulations show average power law indices of −4.32 and −3.64 for peak dose rates and accumulated doses, respectively. In an effort to improve the predictions, we have coupled our kinetic code to results from a 3‐D heliospheric magnetohydrodynamic model, WSA/Enlil. While predictions with the coupled model overall show worse agreement than simulations with steady state solar wind conditions for these large events, the capability to couple energetic particle propagation and numerical models of the solar wind is an important step in the future development of space weather modeling.

[1] Solar energetic particles (SEPs) provide a significant radiation hazard for manned and unmanned interplanetary (IP) space missions. In order to estimate these hazards, it is essential to quantify the gradients of SEP intensities in the IP medium. The Earth-Moon-Mars Radiation Exposure Module (EMMREM) is a new project aimed at characterizing the time-dependent radiation exposure in IP space. In this paper, we utilize EMMREM to study the radial dependence of proton peak intensities, event fluences, and radiation dose equivalents of 27–31 May 2003 SEP events at eight different locations between 1 and 4.91 AU at energies between ∼1.5 MeV and ∼130 MeV. We have modeled onset times and intensity profiles of the SEP events at Mars and Ulysses and found very good agreement at different energies. We report observations of energetic particles at locations with magnetic field line footprints that are separated by ∼90° in heliolongitude, possibly indicating very large coronal mass ejection sizes and/or high cross-field diffusion at large radial distances. Our results show that radial dependencies of proton peak intensities exhibit a broken power law between 1 to 2.5 AU and 2.5 to 4.91 AU, ranging between R−2.52 ± 0.42 and R−5.97 ± 0.32 for 25 MeV and between R−2.13 ± 0.36 and R−5.21 ± 0.29 for 52 MeV, where R is the radial distance from the Sun in units of AU. Event fluences exhibit a similar behavior but with a harder spectra. Radiation dose calculations show that these events did not pose a short-term radiation hazard to humans in the IP space.

[1] The Earth-Moon-Mars Radiation Environment Module is being developed for use by a broad spectrum of researchers to predict energetic particle intensities and radiation exposures at any location in deep space. In this work we demonstrate the capabilities of the module for performing analyses of time-dependent exposures from solar energetic particle events at various locations in space by calculating cumulative dose and dose equivalent, and their time rates of change, for the skin and bone marrow of crew members shielded by as much as 10 g/cm2 of aluminum shielding for the Halloween events of late October 2003.

[1] Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) are extremely difficult to shield against and pose one of the most severe long-term hazards for human exploration of space. The recent solar minimum between solar cycles 23 and 24 shows a prolonged period of reduced solar activity and low interplanetary magnetic field strengths. As a result, the modulation of GCRs is very weak, and the fluxes of GCRs are near their highest levels in the last 25 years in the fall of 2009. Here we explore the dose rates of GCRs in the current prolonged solar minimum and make predictions for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER), which is now measuring GCRs in the lunar environment. Our results confirm the weak modulation of GCRs leading to the largest dose rates seen in the last 25 years over a prolonged period of little solar activity.

We present a study on particle acceleration in the low corona associated with the expansion and acceleration of coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Because CME expansion regions low in the corona are effective accelerators over a finite spatial region, we show that there is a rigidity regime where particles effectively diffuse away and escape from the acceleration sites using analytic solutions to the Parker transport equation. This leads to the formation of broken power-law distributions. Based on our analytic solutions, we find a natural ordering of the break energy and second power-law slope (above the break energy) as a function of the scattering characteristics. These relations provide testable predictions for the particle acceleration from low in the corona. Our initial analysis of solar energetic particle observations suggests a range of shock compression ratios and rigidity dependencies that give rise to the solar energetic particle (SEP) events studied. The wide range of characteristics inferred suggests competing mechanisms at work in SEP acceleration. Thus, CME expansion and acceleration in the low corona may naturally give rise to rapid particle acceleration and broken power-law distributions in large SEP events.

Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) expansion regions low in the corona (< 2 – 3 Rs) are highly efficient for the acceleration of energetic particles. Because the acceleration occurs over a finite spatial region, there is a regime where particles diffuse away and escape from the acceleration sites, leading to the formation of broken power-law distributions. This paper highlights recent results indicating that CME expansion and acceleration in the low corona may cause rapid particle acceleration and create large solar energetic particle events with broken power-law distributions.

The acceleration of protons and electrons to high (sometimes GeV/nucleon) energies by solar phenomena is a key component of space weather. These solar energetic particle (SEP) events can damage spacecraft and communications, as well as present radiation hazards to humans. In-depth particle acceleration simulations have been performed for idealized magnetic fields for diffusive acceleration and particle propagation, and at the same time the quality of MHD simulations of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) has improved significantly. However, to date these two pieces of the same puzzle have remained largely decoupled. Such structures may contain not just a shock but also sizable sheath and pileup compression regions behind it, and may vary considerably with longitude and latitude based on the underlying coronal conditions. In this work, we have coupled results from a detailed global three-dimensional MHD time-dependent CME simulation to a global proton acceleration and transport model, in order to study time-dependent effects of SEP acceleration between 1.8 and 8 solar radii in the 2005 May 13 CME. We find that the source population is accelerated to at least 100 MeV, with distributions enhanced up to six orders of magnitude. Acceleration efficiency varies strongly along field lines probing different regions of the dynamically evolving CME, whose dynamics is influenced by the large-scale coronal magnetic field structure. We observe strong acceleration in sheath regions immediately behind the shock., Comment: 28 pages, 8 figures; Published in The Astrophysical Journal

We derive kinematic properties for two recent solar coronal transient waves observed off the western solar limb with the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) mission. The two waves occurred over ~10 minute intervals on consecutive days—2010 June 12 and 13. For the first time, off-limb waves are imaged with a high 12 s cadence, making possible detailed analysis of these transients in the low corona between ~1.1 and 2.0 solar radii (RS ). We use observations in the 193 and 211 A AIA channels to constrain the kinematics of both waves. We obtain initial velocities for the two fronts of ~1287 and ~736 km s–1, and accelerations of –1170 and –800 m s–2, respectively. Additionally, differential emission measure analysis shows the June 13 wave is consistent with a weak shock. Extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) wave positions are correlated with positions from simultaneous type II radio burst observations. We find good temporal and height association between the two, suggesting that the waves may be the EUV signatures of coronal shocks. Furthermore, the events are associated with significant increases in proton fluxes at 1 AU, possibly related to how waves propagate through the coronal magnetic field. Characterizing these coronal transients will be key to connecting their properties with energetic particle production close to the Sun.